Make Me Whole
by Storm Midnight
Summary: Five years have passed since Ikuto left, Amu claims to have moved on, but still struggles with the pain... Reunited, can they discover the truth and find happiness? Amuto, Evil Tadase, AU Implied Mature content in Ch. 2
1. Chapter 1

Woot! First Shugo Chara story! I actually wrote this a few months ago for my friend's birthday, so I don't have any author's notes planned... So I think after this I'm just going to post the chapters and not say anything! This story is currently rated T, but ch. 2 has an M rating. If there are concerns that this story's rating is too low, please PM me and I"ll change it as soon as I get the chance.

Disclaimer: Storm Midnight claims no ownership or affiliation with the characters or concepts of Shugo Chara, which is copyright Peach Pit.

Well, that's about it, enjoy!

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_Saturday, September 23_

_Mood: Frazzled, Confused, Nervous... you name it!_

_Dear Diary,_

_I bet you're wondering why there are so many emotions today, huh? Well, to put it bluntly... I had that dream again. It's so _weird! _I can't understand it! I guess I never fully described it to you, so you wouldn't realize why I'm freaking out so much... ^^;_

_So it starts out in this forest, and I can't see a thing. It feels like I'm desperately looking for someone... someone important, but I don't know who it is! All I know that in the dream I'm worried sick and I'm so scared and... Alone... I wonder... Could I be looking for Tadase? Oh no, is this an omen or something? Am I doomed to loose him? NO! THIS CAN'T BE! We've been together for too long for use to break up just like THAT! TT^TT _

_We've been going steady for almost three years now... If my dream really is an omen of some sort... Why? But wait, there's more to it: I keep running though the forest and I enter this moonlit clearing, and there's this man standing in the center, looking out towards a lake. He whispers my name—I can't recognize his voice—and just before he turns around, I wake up. The dream always ends on a sad note—quite literally. I always hear a single note of music, as if someone was plucking a string. WHAT DOES IT MEAN? _

_*Sigh* I guess some riddles are better left unsolved. -_-_

_Anyway, Yaya, Rima, Utau and I are going shopping today. *Growls* They want to help me find a dress for tomorrow night. What's happening tomorrow? Well, it's my third anniversary of being with Tadase, and my twenty-first birthday. He insisted that he take me to the most expensive restaurant in town for dinner. I reeeeally don't want him to, but I don't want to hurt his feelings and... Well, I just don't know! A small part of me has been trying to be in love with Tadase since I first saw him at the Academy, but... He's been avoiding me lately... What is he up to? =_=_

_I'll confront him about at dinner tomorrow night... Gotta go, I better eat breakfast before—_

She was interrupted as she heard her doorbell ring. She sighed and finished her entry.

_—Before Utau comes to pick me up..._

_Sincerely,_

_Amu_

Amu Hinamori closed her diary, locked it, and placed it back within the spot on her shelf. Carefully she tucked away the key in its secret hiding place. The doorbell rang again... and again... and again. Amu stormed over to her balcony and looked down to see Utau furiously pressing her doorbell. Amu had moved out and gotten her own house when she was nineteen. She only had one rule: you do not ring the doorbell before eleven. She glanced at the clock on her wall: Ten-fifteen.

That blonde loved to spite her, especially this early in the morning. Amu shouted down to her, "You know, some people are still trying to sleep!"

"And some people need to be ready on time!" The singer shouted back. "Now let me in!" Amu quickly changed out of her pajamas and ran to the door. Utau smirked, "About time!" She pushed her way past her pink-haired friend and walked into the kitchen. "So what's for breakfast? I hope you made enough for the both of us." She sat down at the table and folded her arms.

Amu sighed; she couldn't believe this had become a regular thing, "I was just going to make some toast and—"

"Okay, waffles it is!" Utau cut her off. "And you should probably make some eggs too," She then added in a gentler tone, "Yaya and Rima are hell-bent on getting you the perfect dress, Nagihiko might come along as well."

The younger girl groaned loudly as she pulled out her waffle iron and other various ingredients. She was happy that she had such diverse Charas when she was younger. A small wave of nostalgia swept over her as she remembered them. Ran had helped her become an honest person and helped increase her stamina (which would surely help her on today's shopping trip). Miki made Amu show her creative side, and balanced herself. Su had allowed her to become an exemplary cook, and helped her learn the importance of domestic skills. And Dia... Dia taught her how to shine. Amu lost herself in memories of those happy times, but Utau quickly broke her out of the trance.

"Um... The eggs are burning..."

"Wh-What?" Amu scrambled to fix them, and managed to save them just in time. Quickly she served them along with several waffles. She cleaned up the stove and sat down. Utau unceremoniously dug into her food as Amu sighed once more and began to eat. Their meal was endured in silence, both too hungry to attempt conversation. As soon as Amu was finished, Utau helped her clean up the dishes and they prepared to leave.

"Come ON!" The idol urged as Amu ran upstairs to grab her bag. "Rima says you're dead if you're not at the mall within the next ten minutes!" Amu quickly pulled on her boots and ran back downstairs, she saw Utau on her cell phone.

"Yes, I know... Of course we will! ...He better like it or else! What do you mean 'or else what?' He's _my_ little brother; I can threaten him all I want." She clicked the phone shut, scowling.

Amu chuckled, "Rima..." Her blonde friend grabbed her by the wrist and dragged her to her car. It was a red convertible, sleek and stylish, just like its owner.

"You better buckled up," she warned. But Amu didn't need to be, she knew that Utau was a speed demon. Once they were both strapped in the car sped off. They reached the mall in record time.

xxxxx

The two were greeted at the mall's entrance by Rima and Nagihiko. "Where's Yaya?" Amu asked, "Wasn't she supposed to be here?"

Nagihiko explained, "Kairi called her up about five minutes ago and asked her out to lunch. She left to get ready for him."

"So she ditched us..." Utau concluded, "Humph."

Rima grabbed Amu by the hand, "So what are we waiting for, let's go find your dress!"

The next two hours were a flurry of satin, silk and frills. One of the first was a strapless black dress that was cut just below the knee; it was gathered at the bottom and sides. "Well it's certainly... form fitting," Nagihiko commented as Amu looked at herself in the mirror. He had put his long purple hair in a high ponytail, effectively passing himself off as a girl and allowing him access to the women's dressing room.

"... Can't breath!" Amu gasped. Utau quickly ran over and undid a part of the zipper so she could get it off. Rima then came in later with another dress. It was a deep teal color that reached to the floor, with a strap only over one shoulder.

She held the dress up to Amu, "...Clashes with your hair too much..." she muttered while shaking her head.

Nagihiko looked to the dress, then to the short blonde as she began to tuck it away, "You know, I think _you'd_ look great in it, Rima," He flashed a captivating smile, catching Rima off guard.

She blushed lightly, "I-I don't know... teal really isn't my color."

He looked from her to the dress for a long moment, "Hmm... I guess you're right, I can see you as more of a dark rose color."

Rima blushed again, "I guess..." She quickly turned and scurried out of the room to help Utau pick out another dress.

Amu cracked open the door of the small dressing chamber, "Honestly, why don't you just ask her out on a date already?" she asked in a whisper, suppressing giggles.

Nagihiko frowned, "I don't think I'm the right guy for her..."

"Are you kidding me! You two are _perfect_ for each other!"

He paused, "...You really think so, Amu?"

"I _know _so!" she replied. He beamed once more, pounding a fist into his open hand.

"Okay then, I'll ask her after lunch."

At that moment both Utau and Rima rushed back in, their arms filled with dresses.

They quickly squeezed her into a lime green cocktail dress. "No," Both stated in unison after looking at it on her. They looked to each other, "Whorish," they agreed. Nagihiko resigned himself to returning discarded dresses to their proper racks as the two blondes shoved Amu into as many dresses as possible.

Two more hours passed in the wake of discarded lace and fabric. It was shocking to see her two friends on the same wavelength. It was almost as if they were reading each other's minds as they appraised each selection. Unfortunately, once each dress was worn, they decided that it looked terrible on Amu. Nothing seemed to match her style at _all! _That and the fact that they kept picking dresses that made the poor girl look like a hooker.

"Not in a thousand years!"

"I wouldn't let my man catch me dead in that!"

"Tadase would kill me if I let you wear _that!"_

_"Absolutely not!"_

"What is that, a dress or a tube top?"

"We're not trying to find a look that doesn't scream 'Slut' here, now are we?"

"Is this style _supposed_ to make you look like you're wearing a bikini?"

Amu had just pulled out deep rose-colored evening gown, "Wow, this one looks really—"

"No," Rima tugged the dress out of her friend's grasp.

"Why?"

"That one's mine."

Amu laughed as Nagihiko walked back in the room. He was carrying a beautiful dress that cut off just above the knee. The top consisted of a strapless bodice; it had a dark red, black and gold plaid pattern with black lace overlay, and the frilled skirt was black with red and gold accents. "I found this in the back corner of the store, what do you think?"

Amu quickly snatched it and tried it on, "It's... _Perfect!"_ She felt like she would burst with excitement at the sight of herself in the mirror. The dress hugged in all the right places, and made her feel beyond beautiful. This sight was surely going have the power to knock Tadase—or just _any_ guy—clean off their feet. Quickly they paid for their purchases and left the store.

Utau grabbed her wrist, "Time to find shoes!" Fortunately, shoe shopping was a lot less time consuming than finding the dress. Amu chose a simple pair of black heels to go with her dream dress and bought a pair of stockings to go with them. As soon as they exited the shoe store, Rima took the lead, shouting something about accessories. After finding a cute necklace and bangle to match, along with a small purse they deemed Amu's anniversary outfit complete.

"Are you happy with everything?" Nagihiko asked as he was finally able to pull his hair out of the ponytail. Amu nodded cheerfully. She then heard a voice calling her name; she looked to see Yaya and Kairi walking towards them. They had been sweethearts since the ninth grade, and had been voted world's cutest couple all four years of high school. Quickly the girls told them all about Amu's dress and her dinner-date with Tadase.

"Oh! That's soooooo romantic!" Yaya cooed. She then playfully yelled at her boyfriend "How come you don't take me anywhere nice?"

Kairi cringed, but answered eloquently, "Anyplace in this world is a nice place when I'm with you, my dear."

Amu, Utau, and Rima couldn't help letting out a small "Aww..." as Yaya glomped him.

"I love it when you use those gushy lines!" She squealed. She quickly pulled away from him and began digging though her bag. She pulled out a black headband, "And look at what he got me! Isn't it just the cutest?" The headband had blue cat ears on it. She playfully stuck it on Kairi's head, "Now ain't that just _precious?"_

Amu looked at him and she felt her stomach drop. With those cat ears on Kairi looked an awful lot like...

"Amu?" Rima cautiously asked. "Are you okay?"

The pink-haired Joker felt hot tears stinging her eyes and felt them beginning to roll down her cheek. A look of horror spread across Kairi's face as he realized that he reminded her about the Taboo. "Amu, I'm so—!"

"Don't!" She dropped her bags, and looked wildly around for an escape route; she spotted the nearest restroom and selected that as her destination. "I just..." she staggered, covering her face so the others would not see her tears. "I need a moment!" Her voice broke on the last word as she began to run.

Why did those memories still have to hurt so much?

She locked herself in the stall in the farthest corner of the room, thankful that nobody else was in there at the moment. She leaned against the door of the closed stall and began to bawl her eyes out.

Why did he have to leave?

Suddenly her dream made sense now. It wasn't Tadase that she was looking for every night in the dark forest, it was _him._

Ikuto Tsukiyomi.

_They_ had started dating when Amu was sixteen, she didn't care that there was a five year age difference between them, and her parents were fine with it, as long as she was happy (her father was still tremendously dismayed by the fact that his little Amu-chan was growing up into 'a fine young woman,' but that's beside the point).

All the broken promises that resulted were too much to bear.

He _said_ that she was his whole world. He _said_ that they would always be together. He _said_ that he'd never leave her. He said that he loved her. _Loved_ her. He promised her _forever_, he told her that he would do _anything_ to make her happy. He constantly told her how beautiful and wonderful she was, and how _he_ was the luckiest guy in the world to be blessed with such an angel. He said that when he was with her, he didn't feel the pains of his past, and that he could be his true-self when _they_ were together. To Amu, Ikuto was her sun, her moon, her stars. There was no life without his sweet embrace. He was the one she told all her secrets to, and he was the one who held her when she needed to cry. He was the one she would stay up with on the phone or chat with online into the ungodly hours of the night. He was her first kiss, her first experiment with desire, and her first pregnancy scare. _Yes, she had sex with him_—although she would never admit it to the others, for that night was theirs alone. She didn't regret one single moment with him. Things were so _perfect. _She loved him with all her heart and more. Nothing could have—_nothing should_ have ever driven them apart!

But then... he left. Without a trace. Just... Gone. The first day she sat home by the phone, not realizing anything was wrong. The second day she called him at _least _a hundred times, eager to find out where he was, her worry peaking. On the third day she rounded up all of her friends a conducted a search party throughout the town. Three days later she received a postcard. The location's name was in English, she couldn't understand it, but the picture depicted a bustling harbor city. There was no return address. It only bore two words in his handwriting:

_"I'm sorry."_

He didn't even say goodbye.

She had given him everything she had to offer. She had entrusted her heart to him, and so much more...

And he broke her; he broke her into thousands of pieces. Pieces that were too tiny to matter, but sharp enough for the memories to cut her deep if she ever tried putting herself back together.

That is what led her to Tadase. He was her rebound. She hoped that the spark from their childhood would grow into the kind of flame she had with... with _him._ She forced herself to love him, she forced herself to move on, regardless of the pain she had to endure. She never really loved Tadase, she just wanted to feel loved, and she needed someone to hold her. She wanted to see if she could find some small shred of _his _character with him. Just one small aspect would be something enough for her to hold onto. But alas, no such thing was found within the blonde boy. No one knew this cruel truth, and Amu cried herself to sleep ever now and then as she realized she would be inflicting the same pain upon Tadase that _he _had inflicted upon her. But her friends still noticed that anything that reminded her about _him_ would cause her to break down, resulting in the Taboo. Amu desperately had tried to move on, but _he_ was just too big a part of her to forget.

She heard the door of the restroom open and she scrambled to dry her eyes and compose herself. "Amu?" It was Utau. "You in here?" Of course she was in there, where else did she have to run?

Slowly Amu opened the stall door and faced her friend. The idol then did something completely unexpected. She walked over and hugged her. "I know that he hurt you so long ago, and I understand that you're struggling. I'll never forgive him for that until you do." She took a step back and examined Amu's face before dragging her over to the sinks, "Now let's get you cleaned up, okay?"

Amu smiled and nodded. "Thank you."

"That's what friends are for, right?" Utau replied. As she fixed Amu's makeup, she also stated, "Kairi's really sorry and offered to buy you lunch at the food court, but I don't think he knows what he's getting himself into." The younger girl rolled her eyes, "Oh _come on_ Amu! It's free food!" She got a laugh at that statement. Amu hated to admit it, but overeating was her only major vice. Thank God she had an insanely fast metabolism.

Once Utau deemed her ready, the two exited the restroom and met up with the others at the food court. There was someone else with them. Amu recognized the newcomer immediately. Kukai Souma, the first Jack of the Guardians and Utau's fiancé. "Hey Baby!" He ran up to his diva and greeted her with a quick peck on the lips. "Amu!" He gave her a hug, then held her at arms length, "You okay now?" He asked quietly. "Nagihiko told me what happened."

"I'm fine now, don't worry." A sly smirk came on her face as she walked up to Kairi, "So Utau's says that _you're_ going to buy me lunch."

The green-haired boy panicked, "Look I can only spare twenty dollars and—"

"I'm _kidding!_" She laughed at him. "Relax; I have enough money for myself." As she watched the couples around her erupt into giggles she noticed how she was alone. 'Why isn't Tadase here?' She wondered. 'Everyone has someone to laugh with; they have someone to _be_ with. I feel like a total third wheel.'

Kukai and Nagihiko immediately caught onto her sudden sadness. They may already have women in their lives, but Amu was like a sister to both of them, and family looks out for each other, right? They looked to each other and nodded. Kukai pulled out some money and handed it to Nagihiko, everyone else then chipped into the pot. "You go run and get us some burgers; I gotta go make a call." As Nagihiko walked up to get food for everyone Kukai stood up, "Ladies," He gave a short bow, "Kairi," The two Jacks nodded to each other. The older man glanced at Amu one last time, "Please excuse me for a moment." He walked away from the food court and pulled out his cell phone. Angrily he began to dial Tadase's number.

xxxx

"Pick _up,_ damnit!" Kukai growled quietly as he continued to pace. Now out of the other's sight, he was pacing along a small stretch of wall near a game shop. Again and again he dialed the King's number.

_"Hi, this is Tadase Hotori; I'm not here right now-"_

Kukai hung up and redialed.

_"Hi, this is Tadase Hotori, I'm-"_

He tried one last time.

_"Hi, this is-"_

"Why won't you pick up your damn phone?" Kukai shouted into the receiver.

He was about to hang up again, but he heard a small voice reply, _"Kukai? Is that you?"_

_"Finally_ you answer!" Kukai growled. "Where the _hell_ are you?" He looked around cautiously to make sure no one was eavesdropping on him. "We're all at the mall, and Rima's been telling me that Amu has been feeling left out by a certain someone lately." He let out an angry sigh, "I'm talking about _you! You're_ the one leaving her out, numbskull!" Kukai scratched the back of his head, "I'm not the one you should be apologizing to! What's up with you lately? You're never around _anyone_ anymore! You're making her think that you're gonna pull an Ikuto and hightail it outta here!" Angry shouting was heard on the other end. "I _know_ you'd never leave her, _sheesh!"_ He replied. "Now I want to know what the hell's _so important_ for you to _ignore _your own girlfriend and-"

He froze. "You're going to _what?"_ Kukai's face was filled with shock, "You're going to _WHAT?"_ He leaned against the wall, taken by surprise. "Well _that_ explains everything! Why didn't you tell me?" He grew offensive, "I would _not!"_ He paused, "Okay, maybe I _would_ let something slide..." He nodded, "Look, I gotta go, Utau's waiting for me. See ya later, bro." Kukai tucked away his phone and smiled, "I never thought he'd work up the courage to finally..." He let the statement trail off into a chuckle as he went back to go find the others, praying they saved a burger or two for him.

xxxxx

Fortunately, Utau did happen to spare him a burger with some fries. He explained to Amu that Tadase was busy with something, but that he would tell her all about it tomorrow night. "You know," He suddenly wondered aloud, "I think its time us men went to the arcade see if my high score on DDR is still there from high school, and play some video games while we're at it." He smiled at Utau, "You still want to go shopping for yourselves now that Amu's settled for her special dinner?" The other girls nodded. "Good!" He wadded up his trash and chucked it into the nearest bin, perfect shot.

Everyone got up and collected their bags. "Are you sure you're okay with me leaving?" Kairi asked his girlfriend as he prepared to set off with the others.

"Of course!" Yaya replied as she hugged him, "You go have fun!"

Utau walked over to her fiancé, "You behave now, alright?" She planted a kiss on his cheek as they embraced.

Nagihiko then leaned over to whisper something in Rima's ear. She blushed a bright red—something extremely rare for the laconic blonde. She nodded vigorously in response to whatever he just said. 'He just asked her out!' Amu though joyously as he turned to walk away. She then felt another pang of loneliness as the guys left. 'When was the last time Tadase and I had a moment like that? Is it a bad thing that I can't remember?' She sighed, 'Maybe... maybe it's finally time to go our separate ways... After dinner tomorrow, we'll need to sit down and talk.' As the other girls turned around to face her, Amu quickly forced herself to smile so they wouldn't notice her grief. "What are we waiting for?" She asked, "I read something about a two for one sale on tops at this one store yesterday, why don't we go check it out?"

The others enthusiastically agreed, "And after that," Rima suggested, why don't we go to that beauty shop on the second floor? I've heard they've gotten some new perfumes in."

So they set out upon their bargain hunt. Utau nabbed a few tops at the sale Amu mentioned while Yaya bought a new skirt. ("You're _sure _this doesn't make my butt look big?" "No Yaya, just pay for it already! You've got about half the store waiting in line because of you!") Rima refused to buy anything, stating that if she did in fact want anything, she would get Nagihiko to buy it for her. (That's a boyfriend's job, to buy stuff for his girl... right?") Amu bought a small bottle of perfume entitled 'Moonlight Magic.' It smelled of various flowers, primarily violets and lilies, as if you were 'walking though an enchanted garden basking in the moon's pure light' according to the bottle.

Quite an amount of time had passed since the beginning of their shopping spree. "Utau, what time is it?" Amu asked as she organized her bags.

"It's about seven-thirty..." Before her friend could respond the guys met back up with them.

"There you are!" Kukai shouted. "Are you all finished shopping? 'Cuz we're thinking about treating you all to a movie." The other guys laughed nervously, Kukai was always very straightforward with his ideas. He looked to Amu, "You want me to call up Tadase and tell him to be there?"

"No, I don't need you to do that... Actually I just want to go home right now, I'm exhausted." That was an outright lie; she was just sick and tired of all the displays of affection that were going on around her. She envied their love, their happiness. She had nothing like that to call her own.

"Well then let me drive you back real quick—" Utau handed her bags to Kukai and dug her car keys out of her purse.

"How about you drop me off at the theater? It's only a twenty minute walk from my house." And it was fifteen minutes drive there... So she would get home a little after eight. She'd make herself some dinner and then probably go to bed. Tomorrow was going to be one hectic day.

"Are you sure?" The blonde asked.

"Yeah, I need the exercise anyway," This got a chuckle out of everyone. Everyone went to their respective vehicles and sped off to their next destination. Carefully they exited the car, trying not to wrinkle Amu's dress. After she made sure she had all of her stuff she prepared to leave.

"You _sure _you'll be okay on your own?" Utau asked for the umpteenth time.

"I'll be _fine!"_ Amu shouted, her impatience getting the better of her. She waved to the other and began to walk, adjusting her bags every now and then as they began to slip out of her grasp. She knew the route very well, as they would see movies all the time when they were younger. Oh, how Amu missed those days of adventure. The Guardians were like her second family, and they all had remained friends to this day. Amu, as the Joker, was in charge of training a new generation of Guardians alongside Tadase, but she did most of the work. She had a job as a teacher as Seiyo Academy and oversaw the new Guardians. She still wore the Humpty Lock to her work, because she was the only one who could perform Open Heart since a new Joker hadn't turned up yet. She could see Guardian Characters and X-Eggs, but only when she was made aware of them by another child. And she still had very basic powers from her days as a Guardian, such as Ran's 'Hop, Step, Jump' and 'Heart Rod,' Miki's 'Colorful Canvas,' Suu's 'Remake Honey,' or in very, very rare cases Dia's 'Starlight Navigation.' This proved that while her Charas may have faded as she grew into an adult, their powers still remained within her heart.

She also had a second job as Utau's chief advertiser for her concerts. She would commission for billboards to be set up, hand out flyers and put posters up all around town. 'Ah! That reminds me,' She thought, 'I need to finish the poster design for Utau's new single! I'll be sure to do that tomorrow.'

Her body was on autopilot as she walked the route home; her mind was fully immersed in the memories of her character transformations. In a sudden wave a painful nostalgia, she was remained of Amulet Fortune... and Seven Seas Treasure. "No," she whispered quietly. "I will not think about him... not tonight." She was quickly approaching her house on the street corner, but something was different... Amu was just about to turn and walk down her driveway when she realized how quiet it was.

The silence was far too thick for her to be alone.

She stopped and turned to survey her surroundings. There seemed to be no one else on the street corner but her... 'Then why do I feel like I'm being watched?' She thought as she began to walk again. She stopped once more, 'But I better make sure...' Slowly she turned around. "Is... Is anyone there?" A bubble of courage blossomed within her chest as she shouted, "Show yourself!"

All was quiet in the dark night. 'I'm probably just being para—?" Her thoughts were cut off by the sharp sound of a twig snapping—as if someone had stepped on it. Again she felt like she was being stalked, like a cat would a mouse. Quickly she pulled out a small bottle of pepper spray from her bag; she never left home without it. "Who's there?" She demanded. A movement on the far end of the street corner caught her eye; a tall looming figure stood just beyond the street lamp's light, encasing the figure in darkness. Judging by the shape of the silhouette, he was clearly male. She took a cautious step back, ready to run if he made any move to grab her. "Wh-What do you want with me? Leave me alone!" She begged.

"I'm not going to hurt you," He soothed, noticing her rising panic. "Please don't try to run." His voice was deep, warm, comforting, 'And undeniably _sexy!"_ Amu blushed furiously at the thought, this man could attack her at any given second—regardless of what he said—and here she was acting like a hormonal teenager! What was the world coming to?

But his voice... it was so... familiar. She took a careful step towards him, "Who _are_ you?"

She received no response. He shrugged something off of his shoulder, a case of some sort? He lifted two objects out of it, one much larger than the other. He tucked the larger one under his chin and suddenly the air was filled with the most beautiful and wondrous violin music she had ever heard. The melody was powerful, yet mysterious, as if it was beckoning for her to come closer. The wood of his bow caught the light on the street lamp every now and then as it danced over the violin's strings. Slowly he walked into the circle of light, finally revealing his identity.

Time.

Just.

Stopped.

She felt her heart skip several beats as he smirk at her. Oh _God_ how she missed that perfect smirk he had always given her, those mischievous eyes that pierced straight into her soul. The beautiful voice of his violin was silenced as he swiftly returned it to its case. Carefully he closed the gap between them, drawing Amu close to his chest; their faces were mere centimeters apart. A deep blush graced her features as she breathed his name; shock was coursing through her veins. His appearance was her wildest dream and her worst nightmare come true.

"...Ikuto...?"


	2. Chapter 2

Before Amu had a chance to react, Ikuto grabbed her chin and forced his lips upon hers. The kiss was soft and sweet, with just a hint of desperation. He allowed them to separate after a few seconds. "My have you grown up nicely," he commented as he attempted to snuggle against her. It was true, Ikuto hadn't changed one bit since Amu had seen him last, while she had a growth spurt over the years, which brought her height to just above his shoulder. "And that's not the _only _way you've grown," He continued seductively, admiring her chest.

"Y-you perverted alley cat!" She shouted as she shoved him away. She quickly reached down and recollected her bags before he could recover.

He staggered backwards, he looked hurt for a split second, but hastily hid it and asked, "But I'm _your_ perverted alley cat, right?"

Amu blushed furiously again, but couldn't find the words to respond to him. She didn't know how to react. Ikuto was right in front of her, the man who single-handedly decimated her heart, and she was acting casually? She stormed down her driveway and up to her front porch, with ex-lover following close behind her. She dug her house keys out of her bag and opened the door.

"So are you going to invite me in?" Ikuto asked curiously.

She spun around to face him and stuck out her free hand, _"Spiral Heart Special!"_ She called out, summoning her Heart Rod and unceremoniously whacking him over the head. She didn't know why she hit him, it just felt necessary. _"Ikuto no baka..."_ She muttered under her breath as she entered her home. She left the door wide open so that he would know he was welcome. She continued walking until she was in her dining room and placed her bags on the table. After hanging her dress on the doorframe she walked back into her kitchen and saw Ikuto sitting at the small table in there. With every step she took the maelstrom of emotion raging inside of her grew more intense. She avoided looked at him as she went to make sure the front door was shut properly. Her stomach growled, prompting a reaction from Ikuto as she opened up a cabinet.

"Aww... Is the little kitten hungry?"

The Joker rolled her eyes as she pulled out two cups of instant ramen. She opened the tops and poured water into both. After setting the time and putting them in the microwave she propped herself against the counter and stared at the small digital clock's three minute countdown. She snuck a glance at him only to catch him staring at her with a strange intensity. She blushed furiously once more as she tried to set her thoughts straight.

If only it was that easy!

Amu folded her arms so that he would not see her hands shaking. All the emotions inside of her were threatening to burst at any second. What should she say? What should she feel? She could barely form a coherent thought with him staring at her like that! She feared to look at him again, because one look of those dangerously blue eyes would send her over the edge. She didn't know if she'd start screaming, crying, or laughing at his return. She couldn't think, she couldn't _feel._ Eventually, she settled on hating him, just for the moment. Just until she figured out what she _really_ felt, she would hate him.

For the broken promises.

For the heartbreak.

For not caring enough to say goodbye.

And most importantly for showing up out of the blue at the most _inconvenient_ time and acting like the past five years of his disappearance _never even happened_.

So she continued to watch the clock, maintaining a terse silence and ignoring all of Ikuto's attempts at conversation.

"So I hear the weather has been really nice lately, the leaves are just starting to turn..." He frowned, but moved on to another topic.

"Well, it's your birthday tomorrow, huh? Do you know what everyone's getting you or are you gonna wait and be surprised?" The silence still stretched on. He scratched the back of his head; he didn't like being the only one talking. Normally it was Amu who carried most of the conversations they had in the past. Cautiously he tried again.

"So you're turning twenty-one? Man, do the years fly. Being able to drink now will surely make things more interesting, huh?" Still. She gave no response; she simply stood there, still as stone. Sadness swept over Ikuto's face as he stood up and walked to her side. He tilted her chin upward, forcing her to look at him. "Amu," he whispered, "I'm..."

_"I'm sorry."_

Those two simple words made the statue crumble. Amu completely broke down and collapsed to her knees, sobbing uncontrollably. Ikuto rushed to comfort her, but as he reached down to embrace her she pushed his chest with a surprising amount of force, sending him spiraling backwards. "N-NO!" She screamed between sobs. "Y-YOU'RE _NOT!"_ The pink-haired woman yanked herself to her feet. "D-don't you d-dare-don't you even _dare_ try that _bullshit!"_ Tears were madly streaming down her face; she could barely see a thing. "Do you have _any _idea what I went through? Well, do you? How much pain? How much—?"

"You think it wasn't bad for me?" He thundered in reply, cutting her off. His eyes were focused on the floor; his fists were clenched in anger. "Leaving Japan was the hardest and most _painful_ decision I've ever had to make in my entire _life_ and—!"

"THEN WHY IKUTO?" Amu demanded. "WHAT WAS _SO IMPORTANT_ THAT YOU HAD TO LEAVE ME? YOU PROMISED ME YOU'D NEVER LEAVE!" She covered her face, unable to bear the sight of the man before her. "You _promised..."_

There was a sudden stillness in the air, as if it had been frozen. The microwave decided it was done and beeped only once, the only thing that broke the silence. Ikuto slowly looked up to her face. "I thought..." he turned away, stunned."I thought... You didn't... _Want_ me anymore..."

She slowly clasped her hands over her heart, "What on earth would make you think that?" She asked softly. "I loved you more than anything in this whole world."

Ikuto sighed as if he were very tired. He shoved one of his hands into his pocket and withdrew a small scrap of paper. "One day, over five years ago, I received this note, which changed my entire life..."

xxxxx

_The sound of the violin cut pure and beautiful into the early spring air. Ikuto was on his usually street corner, playing for change. The people around there had gotten to know him and how talented he was, so whenever he played he was quite profitable. He glanced down to his open case and estimated how much cash was in it, there had to be at least two-hundred, he had been playing for over three and a half hours, after all. Maybe he'd take Amu out for dinner tonight with the money he earned, or maybe they would head to the mall._

_A small smile graced his lips as he though about his Amu. His, it just felt so _right_ to describe her that way. He brought the current song he was playing to a close, and bowed to the applause of some bystanders hanging around. He packed away his violin and quickly made his way home. His pink-haired lover would not get out of school for another hour, and then the weekend would be theirs to spend however they saw fit._

_He climbed the stairs to his apartment and went inside, pausing only to collect his mail from the small box next to his door. He flipped through them, "Bills, bills, fake charity... What's this?" _

_It was a simple piece of paper, folded over twice. Cautiously he unfolded it and began to read, unaware of what the consequences it would bring._

xxxxx

"And if you weren't the one who sent this to me then..."

"Then what?"

"Then I was tricked into leaving by someone who wanted to split us up."

Amu gasped, utterly appalled. "Who would try and do such a thing?"

"I can think of a few people..." Ikuto replied, his face hardening into a mask of fury. "But it still doesn't prove that you're innocent."

"But where did you go?"

Ikuto closed his eyes, thinking back, "Boston, it's in The United States. I wanted to get as far away as possible, so I settled there," He paused for a few moments. "I needed to get away... from everything."

"C-can I see the... the note?"

Regrettably he handed it to her. Amu, fearing the worst, began to read. _"Dear Ikuto-"_

"Please don't read it aloud!" He begged. "... I don't think I could withstand you saying it to my face..."

_It's time for you to know the truth. I don't love you, I never loved you. This was all a game for me. You are empty and deceitful and I hope you never find the slightest glimmer of happiness in this life. I pray I never have to see your face again. Go die in a hole where you belong, you unwanted stray._

And at the bottom was her name.

"But that's impossible," She whispered as she analyzed the note. After reading it several times the message's effect finally sank in.

This was the note that sent Ikuto away.

This tiny scrap of paper is what cost her everything, and she had absolutely nothing to do with it. "I didn't write this, there's no way I could have," she concluded.

"Please don't lie to me, Amu," Ikuto began to turn towards the door. "Don't make this any harder for me."

_"Look!"_ She spun him around and stubbornly shoved the note in his face. "This is written in hiragana while I only write in kanji unless it's _absolutely_ necessary to use phonetics! _And_ my name is written wrong!" She grabbed a pencil off of her counter and scribbled down her name for comparison.

Ikuto stared at the note for a long moment. "So it wasn't you..." He promptly ripped the note to pieces. "It wasn't you." He repeated. Then it finally hit him as he froze, and his face just lit up. Amu had never seen him so happy in her entire life. He rushed over to her and scooped her up into his arms, "It was all a mistake... Oh God, Amu... Please forgive me..." Their embrace was warm and comforting; it also bore a strange sense of lightness and freedom. Now they both knew the truth and they had each other.

And that was all that mattered.

"But who would—?" She began to ask, but he quietly shushed her.

"Let's save that mystery for another day, okay?" His arms tightened around her. "This is the happiest I've been in _years. _I don't want this moment to end... You have no _idea_ how much I missed holding you in my arms."

"I think I might," Amu replied with a watery chuckle. "The cold days, the lonely nights... At first it was almost like I was a—"

_"Zombie."_ They completed the statement together. Ikuto continued, "It was almost as if someone had torn my heart out of my chest and—"

_"Left me to die, never to love again." _Amu then added, "It was worse when I was around the others, they were so _happy_ and—"

_"All it did was remind me of you..." _Ikuto cradled his love, rocking gently from side to side. They held each other in silence, cherishing the moment. Finally it was broken by, "Can we have that ramen now? I'm kinda hungry." Ikuto was always so blunt with his opinion, but it was that kind of candor that she adored about him. Amu's stomach growled loudly again, much to her chagrin, seconding his statement. She blushed and pulled out two forks as Ikuto removed the cups of ramen from the microwave. "Good, they're still warm," He commented as he set them onto the table.

Dinner was endured in silence, both though that enough had been said for the time being. Ikuto glanced at the lid of his cup of ramen and smiled. She had made fish flavored, his favorite. 'So she does still care,' he thought happily. His eyes slowly trailed over her body, she was too focused on her food to notice him. 'I wonder if we could...' He let the thought go with a devilish smirk.

As soon as they were finished Amu put their forks into the sink and tossed away the empty cups. She was just about to turn around when she was suddenly pounced upon, bending her over the counter. Ikuto skillfully flipped her over and began assaulting her lips. Amu opened her mouth and indulged herself with his taste. Had it really been five years? Time cannot change the power of one's kiss; only strengthen another's longing for it, making it more potent when received. They reluctantly pulled apart, gasping for breath. "Bedroom. Where is it?" Ikuto demanded as he picked her up. She squirmed out of his grip, forcing him to set her down on the counter.

"A-Aren't we moving a little too fast?"

He laughed quietly to himself, then his face grew very serious, "Amu, I'm only going to ask you once, _where is your bedroom?_ Because I'm not beneath taking you on this counter right now." He smirked, "And I think we're moving at a perfectly fine pace. _And_ I think I remember a certain little girl who couldn't _wait_ for me to get into her pants when she was sixteen."

Amu blushed again, and then muttered, "Upstairs, it's the door on the left at the end of the hall."

He swiftly ascended the stairs with her in his arms; within seconds they were in Amu's bedroom. He gently laid her down onto the bed and then in one fluid motion took off his shirt. Amu couldn't help but marvel at how beautifully sculpted he was, like a blue-haired Adonis. He leaned down to kiss her once more, cupping her face. "Have you..._ Been_ with anyone since I left?"

She fidgeted awkwardly for a moment, thoughts of Tadase rushed to her. "I'm dating but—?"

Ikuto cut her off by undoing her pants and partially tugging them off, "You know what I mean..."

"N-no... I haven't been with anyone else in... In _that _way."

He smirked once more, then kissed her again, much fiercer than last time. "Good," He replied as he focused on removing her clothing. Amu stopped him as he moved to her bra.

"Pants first," She commanded, undoing his belt buckle. She didn't care how loud they would be, she didn't care if the others found out tomorrow. And Tadase? 'Forget him...' Amu thought, 'He never even attempted to go this far with me.' The only thing that she cared about was how much she needed this.

Once both had shed their clothes, Ikuto's mouth and hands freely roamed her body, eliciting small gasps and moans at just the right places. She felt like her body was burning, oh how she craved him! "_I-Ikuto...!_ _P-please..."_ Was all she managed to beg.

Finally they both lost control, fully sacrificing their bodies, minds and souls; completing each other.

xxxxx

The next day dawned bright and warm. Amu's eyes fluttered opened as she stretched and yawned. Her hand encountered something on the pillow next to her. She slowly sat up, keeping the blankets wrapped close to her body and groaning as she did so; her body was sore from last night's 'activities.' There was a note with her name on it, and next to it was a single red rose. Amu felt a flutter of fear within her as she snatched up the note.

Where was Ikuto?

Did he decide to leave again?

She opened the note, and there in Ikuto's elegant handwriting was:

_Used your shower, went out to get breakfast, and borrowed your car. Since when have you owned a Full-sized Impala? I'll be back as soon as I can._

_All of my love,_

_Ikuto_

She breathed a sigh of relief; he hadn't abandoned her like a one-night stand. Reading the note once more assured her that Ikuto wasn't going to leave her anytime soon. She glanced at his sign off once more.

_All of his love..._ It and the sight of his signature made Amu almost giddy with happiness. Still, a little, nagging voice inside her head told her that all of this was wrong, and that she was cheating on Tadase. She'd be shattering the poor boy's heart, and they had been together for so long! Ikuto left and missed his chance; she should have told him to stay away from her and to move on, not to sleep with him!

...Sometimes, Amu _really_ wished that little voice would just shut up.

She carefully picked up the rose he had left for her. She breathed in its sweet scent for a moment, and then turned to see what time it was. The spell was broken as she threw the covers off of herself and rushed to get dressed. It was quarter to twelve; she had to be at Utau's studio in forty-five minutes! And she hadn't finished the poster design yet! Ikuto appeared in the doorway as Amu scrambled to pull herself together.

"Your top's on inside out," He commented as he walked over and peeled the shirt off her before righting it and helping her get it back on. "What's the big rush? Your breakfast is in the microwave downstairs, if you're hungry."

"I need to finish a poster promoting Utau's new single," She explained as she shimmied into a skirt and put on some heels. "Can you do me a favor?"

"Sure."

"Strip the bed for me and throw it all in the washer, okay?"

Ikuto chuckled, "Okay." And went to work. Amu hurried downstairs and opened the microwave to retrieve her food. There was a toasted bagel with cream cheese and a doughnut along with a small cappuccino. She quickly downed the frothy beverage and scarfed down her food, not caring about her singed tongue. She sprinted back upstairs to get her sketchbook, almost running into Ikuto.

He swerved out of her way, "Careful! I don't want you hurting yourself," He warned, his arms filled with the bed's covers, "Do you want me to start the wash while I'm at it?" The pink-haired woman nodded spastically, desperately searching the room. After several frantic minutes she found it and rushed downstairs, flipping it open as she went. She accidentally missed a step, sent her falling downward. A small cry of fright escaped her as she braced for the impact of the floor.

But it never came. _"Amu!"_ She heard Ikuto shout as he dashed to save her. He made just in the nick of time, scooping her up in his arms, a warm and protective embrace. "What did I _just_ tell you?" He chided softly. "Are you okay?" She nodded as he set her down. "Please be careful..."

Together they walked into the kitchen. Amu situated herself at the table while Ikuto opened up a cabinet and pulled out a tall glass. He filled it about halfway with water and set it on the counter. It was next to the red rose that he had left for her. He picked up the flower and placed it within the makeshift vase. "It's very beautiful," Amu commented, "Thank you..."

The blue haired bishonen smiled as he walked over to her and planted a kiss on her cheek, "Happy birthday, my love." He whispered sweetly.

She felt her face growing red again as she redirected her attention to the poster she needed to finish. The picture consisted of Utau standing in an open field looking up towards the sky, her hands folded against her chest as is she was making a wish. The drawing's night sky was completely black, except for a lone shooting star. All she had to do was finish drawing the idol and retrace everything in ink so that it would show up when it was scanned into the computer to be colored. Her pencil scratched away at the paper. Glancing at the clock, she realized that she still had half an hour, and relaxed. She noticed Ikuto had retrieved his violin from wherever he had stowed it last night. He carefully pulled out the instrument and began playing quietly to himself. That was one of his little quirks Amu discovered when they were dating: he hated absolute silence. There had to be at least some noise that he was familiar with. Ikuto also had a vacant look in his eyes, the look he always got when he was thinking deeply.

"How's Utau been? What has she been up to?"

Amu began to ink her drawing, "She doing great, she's recording her new single today, which is why the poster needs to be done." She stopped as a thought struck her, "You... Haven't kept in touch with your family, have you?"

The violin's tempo increased, he was nervous. "No... I cut off contact with everyone when I left."

"Well... Utau's engaged."

The strings screeched as Ikuto hit a foul note. "T-to whom?" He asked as he replayed the melody he had played for Amu last night, trying to mask his surprise.

That was another one of his quirks: he hated being caught off guard.

"Kukai. I'm supposed to be the maid of honor, but their not getting married for another two years, since Utau doesn't want to interrupt her music career," She replied. Ikuto smiled, satisfied with the answer.

"She made a good choice. What about Tadase? Anything important going on with him that I should know about?"

Amu continued to work on her drawing, acting as if she didn't hear the question. The violin's music slowed, He immediately knew something was wrong.

"Did something happen?" His voice betrayed the slightest hint of panic.

"...No... He's fine," She stated, avoiding his eyes.

"You're lying to me,"

Again he was ignored. Ikuto put his violin down and walked over to Amu. "Tell me what's going on with him, _now!"_ He sharply grabbed her chin and forced her to look at him. "I need to know!"

She was silent for several long moments. "Tadase and I are dating... We've been dating for exactly three years today."

Ikuto's face went blank as his hand fell away from her face. "I see..." He muttered as he turned away from her, "You've moved on."

Amu gasped as she jumped put of her chair and grabbed his arm. "That's not true! My relationship with him is _nothing_ compared to what we had!"

"How so?"

"You cannot compare the light of a candle to the heat of the sun's core."

Her analogy coaxed a smile out of him, but before he could say anything in response the phone rang. He crossed the room and picked it up, contrary to Amu's warning and much to her dismay.

"Hinamori Residence, Ikuto Tsukiyomi speaking."

Amu charged towards him, _"Colorful Canvas!"_ A wave of rainbow energy knocked the phone out of his hand; she quickly dived and caught it, letting the giant paintbrush she summoned for the attack disappear.

She brought the phone to her ear, "Hello?" Amu was met with the foulest onslaught of curses she had ever heard. "U-Utau?" The insults were clearly meant for Ikuto, but she could barely believe that the idol possessed such a colorful vocabulary.

"Do you want me to translate what she's saying?" Ikuto asked as he leaned in to listen, "She's cursing you out in English." His eyes suddenly widened, "Where did she learn to say _that?"_

Eventually Amu got Utau to calm down after some cursing of her own. The blonde shouted at her over the phone. _"What on EARTH is he doing in your house? You were just crying your eyes out over him at the mall yesterday and now he's in your HOUSE? Does Tadase know he's there?"_

"No, he doesn't," Amu's tone grew very stern, "Ikuto just happened to be visiting to see how his family was doing and decided to drop by. Also... we discovered that there was a conspiracy of some sorts behind our breakup."

_"...Really? What do you mean by—?"_

Ikuto snatched the phone out of Amu's hand, "Hey, am I invited to the recording of your new single? Amu's been telling be how she's in charge of making a poster for it and—"

"Give that back!" Amu shouted as she reached for the phone. Ikuto turned away, using his height as an advantage.

"—So am I invited? ...Only if it's okay with Amu? Why should that... Oh _right,_ Tadase... Well why _should_ you care? You get Amu as a sister-in-law either way." He handed the phone back to the younger woman and went into the laundry room to put the bed covers into the dryer.

Amu let out an exasperate sigh, "I swear I have never met a more _infuriating_ man in all my life!"

_"Tell me about it," _Utau replied, _"He's allowed to come to the recording as long as he promises not to cause any trouble. I'm holding _you_ responsible if anything goes wrong!"_

"You're _such_ a great friend," Sarcasm dripped from Amu's response.

_"When you get to the studio, I want to know everything that's going on between you and my brothers, understand?"_ Utau then hung up.

xxxxx

The idol herself personally greeted them as they entered the studio. Amu immediately set to work with in making the final copy of the poster, with Utau hot on her heels. Ikuto was instructed by both of them to stay in the recording room and to stay out of trouble. The two women entered a small room filed with a few computers, a large printer and a scanner. Amu flipped open her notebook and scanned the poster in, and began to create the final version. The blonde was bombarding her with questions all the while.

"What is _he_ doing here?"

"I told you, Ikuto wanted to see how everyone is doing."

"Is he staying here?"

"I don't know."

"Do you _want_ him to?"

"...Yes."

The idol paused, "Do you love Tadase?"

"Define 'love' for me."

"You're not leaving him for Ikuto, are you?"

Amu put the finishing touches on the poster. She couldn't lie to Utau, but she couldn't tell her the truth, so she decided to quote Ikuto. She spun around to face her. "Why should you care? We're sisters either way, right?"

The blonde scowled and folded her arms, "I _care_ because either way, one of my brother's hearts will be broken."

Her friend sighed. "You know I loved Ikuto more than _anything_, and someone tricked him into leaving me. I think he came back to see if I would give him a second chance... Which is what I'm going to do."

"And what about Tadase?"

"He's barely even there for me anymore... So why should I be there for him?"

Shouting was heard from the direction of the recording room, interrupting Utau's response. Amu quickly identified the two voices, "Oh you did not..."

Utau held her hands up in a defensive position, "He had a right to know." The two ran into the room, right into the middle of Tadase's and Ikuto's shouting match.

"STOP IT!" They both shouted, flinging themselves between the two men, standing back to back with their hands thrown out to the sides; Utau was facing Tadase, Amu was facing Ikuto.

The idol cast a hard glare at both of her brothers, "I don't care what you two decided to throw fits about this time, but I did NOT invite you two here just to act like a couple of children!" She then added, "And acting like this in front of Amu, on her birthday nonetheless! You two should be ashamed of yourselves!"

A very definitive silence ensured. Amu picked out the meaning instantly, Utau had chosen her side in this messy conflict. The idol didn't choose to ally with either of her brothers, but with the girl they were fighting over.

"Umm... Is this a bad time?" They all looked to see Kukai standing in the open doorway. In an attempt to break the tension, he laughed and walked over to Amu, "Utau told me to get you a present so I was walking around this morning and found you this!" He pulled out a small rectangular box. "Happy birthday!"

Amu opened the box to find a silver charm bracelet, "Thanks Kukai!" She cheerfully shouted as she hugged him.

"But that's not all!" Utau fetched a small bag of charms from her bag on the floor, "These are from me," Most notably in the bag were charms of a heart, spade, clover and diamond, along with some cross shapes that matched the clips she used to wear. Amu thanked them both profusely, happy with the gifts as she tucked them into her purse. The two brothers refused to say a word, despite the others attempts to change the mood. They glared at each other, both desperately wanting the other to disappear.

Amu noticed how Kukai didn't react negatively to Ikuto's presence, 'Utau must have tipped him off,' she reasoned. One of the idol's assistants entered the room carrying four fold-up chairs. "Miss Hoshina," She gestured to the half of the recording studio separated by a large pane of glass. "We're ready for the recording."

Utau's recording room was unique in the fact that it was divided into three sections: one were she could have people watch her recording, the part where she sang in, and the third part was where they handled all the musical components.

The assistant set up the four chairs as Utau entered the center section of the room and got ready to perform. A music stand with the lyric sheets stood next to the microphone. She put on the pair of headphones and gave the others a thumbs up. The assistant left as they took their seats. Tadase took the first seat, leading Amu to sit next to him. Kukai and Ikuto exchanged a long look, clearly debating who would take the seat next to Amu. The brunette settled the dispute by taking the last seat, leaving the seat between him and the pink-haired woman open.

Amu gave Kukai a stern look as Ikuto took his seat. The first Jack shrugged nonchalantly, as if to say, "It can't be helped now." Suddenly music began to play, Utau was beginning her recording.

"The song is entitled, 'The Only Star Left in the Sky,'" Amu explained. It was a slow, sad song about someone who had loved and lost, and how they discover that their lost love had been within them all along.

_"I'm standing alone,_

_I'm the darkest moment of night,_

_Trying to find something in my life,_

_A small glimmer of hope._

_So I look to the sky,_

_And I see your face again."_

Tadase wrapped his arm around Amu's shoulder, forcing her to rest her head on his. Ikuto rolled his eyes at the sight and let one of his hands fall limply to his side, right next to Amu's.

_"In this world of darkness,_

_When my heart cries out for help,_

_You are the one there for me,_

_When the world starts to fall,_

_In the darkest moment of night,_

_The only start left in the sky,_

_Is you."_

She felt Ikuto's hand bump against hers. She hesitated only for a moment before clasping it. His hand was soft and warm within hers; she reveled in the feeling of them being together. _This_ is what it felt like to be complete. _This_ is what it felt like to be happy.

_"They may have torn us apart,_

_But I know that someday,_

_Fate will bring us together once more,_

_And I will truly love again._

_So now you are here,_

_And now I can finally smile."_

Utau repeated the chorus as Amu sighed aloud. Tadase immediately reacted, "Is something wrong?" The younger brother couldn't help but shooting a glare at Ikuto. Amu felt his hand slip out of her grasp. She formed a fist, saddened by the loss.

"No, I'm just... Thinking about the song, that's all..."

Kukai watched the entire scene unfold in wonder. He realized Amu still loved Ikuto and vice versa, but he also knew was Tadase was going to tell Amu tonight. He let out a small sigh of his own, which went unnoticed.

Things just got a lot more complicated. There were two roads that lay before Amu, and each one was lined with the heartbreak of another.

_"Even if I am stuck in unyielding midnight,_

_I can still see the light,_

_For you are my only star,_

_Promise me you'll never leave,_

_And we will shine forever._

_I'll fight though it all and at the end,_

_I can bask in the light of your love."_


	3. Chapter 3

About five hours have passed since Amu left Utau's studio, she was now in her room preparing for her dinner-date with Tadase. Amu looked at herself in the mirror, having just finished getting ready. She looked beautiful and happy on the outside but on the inside she was tearing herself apart. She never had to break up with anyone before... How could she do it? She took a deep breath and imagined herself talking to the blonde boy.

"Tadase, we need to talk. Things have been too distant between us and... I've decided that we shouldn't be seeing each other anymore." She shook her head. "No... That sounds too formal, like I never want to see him again... I still want to be friends but..." She took another deep breath.

"It's time you finally knew the truth: I'm still in love with Ikuto and I'm leaving you for him. I need a _man_ in my life and... No, that sounds way too harsh..." She sighed and looked her reflection dead in the eye.

"I'm going to be blunt with you Tadase. It's over. Can we settle for just being friends?" 'No... That sounds too demanding and it makes me sound like I just used him for the past three years...'

"I could try to lie and tell you that's it's me, but it's really you, Tadase, I can't deny it. You don't treat me like a girlfriend, and now that Ikuto's back in my life and I've discovered that he was tricked into leaving... I want to see if he deserves a second chance. I just... don't feel the same about you as I did before when we were younger, I'm sorry. These three years I spent with you, I can't say that I was truly happy, but it was enough to keep me here, and I can't thank you enough for that. Please don't hate me... I really, _really_ hope you don't hate me _or _Ikuto for this. We may not have been a good couple but ...Could we still be friends?" Amu smiled, that sounded like a good break-up speech. Stern enough to get the message across, but she justified herself so that she didn't sound like an uncaring bitch.

There was a tapping at the sliding door of her balcony. Amu turned around, confused. She pulled back the curtain to see Ikuto; he seemed to be holding something behind his back. She opened up the door, "How did you get up there?"

"Same way I was able to when we were teenagers," He replied, flashing his signature Cheshire smirk. He pulled a very small box out from behind himself, it was covered in silver wrapping paper and it had a large, fancy pink ribbon on the top. "I figured the rose wouldn't be enough, so I went to the mall and found you something special."

"You shouldn't have," Amu whispered, "You've come back to me, and that's the greatest present I could _ever_ have asked for!"

He scoffed, "Nonsense... there are much better things in this world than me."

"Not in my world."

Ikuto laughed, "You strange, silly little girl." He then frowned, placing the present on the bed and sitting down beside it, his back to Amu, "You... really don't have to break up with him for my sake. I'd really prefer for you to let that relationship take its course... _He_ could be the one you don't want to let go..."

Trying to imitate his tone, she scoffed, "Nonsense! There are much better men in my world than he!" She climbed onto the bed and hugged her lover, "You are my everything."

"So you're breaking up with him over dinner?"

"Yes, but I'm going to try and be as gentle as possible."

Ikuto shook his head, "You cannot be gentle when you're breaking a heart; it's a scar that pains you with every step taken, no matter what is said before you bleed." Amu moved to sit beside him, picking up the small present. Without a word she carefully undid the wrapping and opened the box. It was a golden locket. Hesitantly she pried it open to see a picture of them together on the carousal in the small amusement park they would always visit. In the other half was a small inscription: 'And you shall forever hold my heart.'

"Wow..." she whispered, tracing the engraving with her finger. "It's... so _pretty!_" She hugged him again.

Suddenly, the doorbell rang.

They both looked to each other, their eyes filled with dread, "_Tadase!" _They both muttered, Amu with alarm, Ikuto with disgust_. _Amu leapt up from the bed and quickly fixed her outfit, making sure everything was alright. "How do I look?" She asked him eagerly.

Ikuto stared at her for several long moments, "...Perfect."

She smiled and turned to exit, only to quickly turn back on her heel to face him, "Stay out of sight until we leave, okay?"

He sighed, "Actually, I've been meaning to talk to you about that..."

The Joker tilted her head, confused, "Huh?"

"After you and Tadase split, could we... live together?" He paused, and then added on as an afterthought, "I have nowhere else to go."

She mulled it over for a few moments, before warmly replying, "Of course you can."

The doorbell rang again, a sharp and impatient sound.

Ikuto walked over to her and cupped Amu's cheek, "I love you." They kissed briefly.

"I know," She replied as she hugged him once again. Reluctantly she walked down the stairs and opened the door, forcing herself to smile. "Hey Tadase! You're... Early."

The blonde was dressed in a simple tuxedo; he blushed, "Really?" One arm was tucked behind his back. Another gift? "I guess I rushed a bit to get you these..." He revealed a large bouquet made of various lilies, carnations and daisies were bundled together. All of the flowers were white. "... So I guess I am a bit early," He chuckled nervously.

Amu accepted them unenthusiastically, "... Thanks..." Tadase leaned in to kiss her, but she turned away and walked into the kitchen. She placed the flowers on the counter next to Ikuto's rose. She looked from the rather plain bouquet to the red flower. It was a shame, really, the differences between them; the poor white arrangement would probably be in the garbage come tomorrow morning.

She reentered the foyer to see Tadase staring at her, awestruck. Finally taking in her outfit he stuttered, "Y-you look..." He fumbled for the word, "S-stunning...!" He was attempting to gloss over the fact that she had flat out rejected him by complimenting her dress... Pathetic.

The pink-haired woman frowned at her soon-to-be ex's appraisal of her outfit. Why just stunning? Why not -as Ikuto said-perfect? The King immediately reacted to her facial response.

"I-Is there something wrong?" He asked. Amu sighed, realizing how far this relationship had fallen. The inevitable was upon them, and every passing second just made the situation more awkward.

"Tadase, when we get to the restaurant... We'll need to talk, okay?"

The boy's eyes flashed with panic, "Oh, o-okay..." He led her outside to his car. After Amu had buckled up, she noticed a silhouette in her balcony: Ikuto. He was her only sanctuary at the moment. Regardless of what transpired tonight, he would be there waiting when she came home. Still, she glanced to Tadase; he knew what was going to happen tonight, but his face betrayed no emotion. His eyes only focused on the road ahead of him, and his face filled with a stoic resolve.

The drive was filled with an uncouth silence, but there was a tangible sense of dread in the air. Dread of what was to come, of what had to be done.

xxxxx

The restaurant was fairly crowded when they arrived, but luckily Tadase had made reservations. He grasped her hand, a swift, jarring movement. His grip was rather tight, almost paining her. It was not long before they were seated. "I love you," He whispered, smiling, but the expression did not reach his eyes.

Amu mentally recoiled at the coldness she found there. Coldness, laced with hatred. She knew he was going to cause a scene, which shattered all hopes of making a clean break between them. The real question was not how Amu was going to breakup with him, but what Tadase would do in retaliation. The waiter approached them, handing them their menus. He told them of the house specials then pulled out a small notepad and asked for their drink orders.

"I'll have a glass of wa—"

Tadase cut her off, "Two glasses of red wine, please." The waiter quickly jotted that down and walked off, ignorant to Amu's protests. There were far too many people to be served for him to turn back.

Again there is a long silence between the two. Tadase's eyes challenged her to tell him it was over at this very moment. They dared her to see what would happen. She looked down to her menu, withdrawn. He smirked wickedly, he had the upper hand. After finishing contemplating on what their meals would be the waiter returned, slightly haggard, but with their drinks. He placed one glass by each of them, and then requested their next orders.

Tadase glanced at the menu once more, "I'd like the Shrimp Scampi." After the waiter scribbled that down as he collected the menu.

"I'll have the Chicken Marsala, and could I also have a glass of water?" Amu shot a glare at Tadase, who smiled innocently in return.

"Sure, sure." The waiter replied as he tucked the other menu under his arm. Again, he sped away from the table.

Eventually, Tadase broke the ever persistent silence, "So he's back for good?"

Amu immediately knew who he was talking about, "Yes, he's here to stay." Carefully Amu picked up the wine glass and took a sip. The flavor was bitter, yet strangely tasteful; she pursed her lips at the odd flavor and set the glass back down, "Why should it matter to you?"

"Oh, you'll find that it matters a_ great _deal to me, seeing as though my brother has come to... ah, _reclaim_ you, as one might say it," He took a refined sip of the wine, enjoying it.

"I belong to no one."She stubbornly replied.

His violet eyes flashed dangerously, stating otherwise. "That irksome alley cat thinks he can just waltz around doing whatever he pleases... It would be wise not to _stray_ too close to him."

"What are you trying to say?"

"I'm saying—no, I'm _telling_ you to keep away from him. He is utter filth, and he's only going to deceive you again—!"

"Tadase," Amu cut him off, her voice sweet as honey. She smiled, then dropped it to a dark, blunt pitch, so that no one else but him would hear, _"Shut the hell up."_

The blonde was surprised, but only for a moment before openly glaring at her. At that moment the waiter finally came back with their meals and Amu's water. He seemed to notice the turbulent atmosphere around the couple; "Is t-there, uh, anything else I can get you? No? W-well okay then..." He fled from the table to warn his coworkers about them. Even he could tell that this night would not end well.

They both ate their food slowly, both biding their time. Again and again Amu wondered what Tadase was going to do, but she couldn't read anything past the glowering hatred in those violet eyes. The food was delicious though, certainly living up to the restaurant's reputation. She had abandoned her glass of wine, deciding that alcohol wasn't her thing. Her date, on the other hand, had downed his entire glass already and he was already done his meal. He studied Amu as she finished, as if trying to solve a very complicated puzzle. The waiter brought over the bill, which the King covered. Amu pulled some money out of her purse and placed it on the table for the tip as she got up to leave.

"Wait," Tadase ordered, grabbing her wrist with the same jarring movement as he did before. "Excuse me!" He called out, "Could I have everyone's attention, please?" At least a hundred pairs of eyes turned to look at them. There was no way Amu could escape now, not with all of these people watching. "I'm sorry to interrupt your dinners, but... I'd like you all to partake in this very special moment." The crowd tittered anxiously; both wondering what was going on and waiting for him to continue.

He released Amu's wrist and then gestured towards her, "This woman right here, is the love of my life," The crowd _"Aww-ed" _after he stated that. "We've been together for three long years, which were arguably the best years of my life!"

Ice pierced her heart as she realized what he was about to do. "...No..." She whispered, taking a half-step back.

Tadase got down on one knee as the crowd gasped and applauded, "And there is no one else I'd rather spend the rest of my life with," He pulled a small black box out of his pocket, and opened it to reveal a ostentatious diamond ring. "Amu Hinamori, will you marry me?" Several people whistled and whooped, cheering him on. The crowd then dissolved into a thick, absolute silence. They were all waiting for Amu's answer.

Amu shook her head sadly and took another step back, "I... I can't. I'm not ready for that kind of commitment."

"...But I thought we were here to discuss our future," His face expressed sadness, but his eyes glowed with anger.

She sighed sadly, "Tadase, you knew I came here you break up with you. Don't you _dare_ lie!"

The crowd gasped once more as the two began to argue. "But why?" Tadase demanded, "I _love_ you!"

"If you truly loved me you would realized that our relationship died out long ago!" Amu shouted in reply. "I stuck around this long just so I wouldn't regret letting you go. I thought that maybe you'd be the one to put me back together, the one to make me smile again... but you couldn't!"

"It's because of _Ikuto_ isn't it?" His voice became thick with emotion, and Amu recognized it as _true_ emotion. "You're leaving me for him, _AREN'T YOU?" _For a mere second she saw his face, shattered and heart-broken, but then it evolved into a vicious beast. His rage was truly frightening, causing Amu to take another step back. He began shouting insults at her. Tears began to form at the corners of her eyes, she was trapped, alone, and afraid. She grasped one small shred of courage within her and gathered her strength.

_"SHUT UP!" _She screeched. The entire restaurant was dead silent; most of the staff had come out of the kitchens by now to watch. Her face was furiously red. She desperately tried to keep herself together. Tadase wanted a fight? Well she was about to give him a full out war. "I _tried_ to make this work between us. You don't even know how hard I _tried_. And what have you done? NOTHING! I could try to lie and _try_ to tell you that's it's me, but it's really you, Tadase! I _refuse _to deny it any longer! I just don't feel the same about you as I did before when we were younger, _okay?_ And now that Ikuto's back..." Her voice trailed off.

"Now what?" He challenged. "He's back, so now what?"

Amu glared like a sudden evil had possessed her. "Now I can have a _real_ man in my life, not some _spoiled prince_ who throws tantrums whenever he doesn't get what he wants!" She turned her attention to the crowd, "You see this man? He brought me here tonight in order to make me look like a cheating whore in front of you all. Well I'm _not!_" Tears began to leak out of her eyes, but she fought them back to the best of her ability. "At one point in the past, there was a boy named Tadase Hotori whom I fell in love with." She turned back to him, "But that boy has long since died, and has been replaced with this cruel, heartless man!" She shook her head one final time, "Kiseki would be so ashamed of you..." Without another word, she turned around and stormed out of the restaurant, not daring to look back, because then Tadase would have won.

He would have gotten the satisfaction of seeing her cry.

She began to run; she didn't care about her feet hurting from the heels, she didn't care where she was going. All that mattered was that she was getting away from _him_. After about five minutes of running, she leans against the side of a building, trying to figure out where she was. A car pulled up to the curb near her. She ignored it. The car honked at her, and she looked up to see a green Impala in front of her as the driver honked at her again.

That was _her_ car!

She ran over to the door as Ikuto opened it, "I figured you'd need a ride home after you broke it off with Ta—"

"Please don't say his name." She ran a hand though her hair, tired. "How did you get my car?"

He shrugged, "I went though the purse you left on the counter, and I got lucky."

The pink-haired Joker let out a frustrated sigh as she climbed into the car and slammed the door shut. She folded her arms sullenly, still fighting those angry tears. Ikuto extracts a box of tissues from under the driver's seat, and gently places it in Amu's lap. After she dried her eyes he leaned over and gently kissed her forehead.

At that very moment someone ran in front of the car. The figure hunched over panting. It was Tadase, he had 'caught them' in the act. He looked disgusted, destroyed, his nightmare come to life. His eyes only bore one message: You will _pay._ He sneered at them both and ran off. Ikuto put the car in drive and drove them home, but not before grabbing Amu's hand and kissing the back of it.

"I won't let him hurt you... I promise."

Amu stared directly into his eyes. Unlike Tadase's amethyst stones, Ikuto's were pools of sapphire warmth. She knew she was safe.

The drive was rather short, but Amu felt her eyes drooping by the end of it. "Why does he have to hate me?" She suddenly asked as they got out of the car.

Ikuto was silent for a few seconds, then replied, "That's one of the funny things about love: friendships may end in it, but it in friendship... Never."

The two walked up to the front porch to find two suitcases in front of the door, before his girl could question, Ikuto explained, "I stayed at a hotel for two days before I found you, and the porter there owed me a favor, so I asked him to deliver my bags here. I guess he showed up when I left to get you..." They entered the house without another word. Ikuto went upstairs to put his suitcases in Amu's room, while she walked into the kitchen. The bouquet of white flowers was still on the counter where she left it. The flowers had already begun to show signs of wilting, due to them not being placed in water. Amu picked them up and walked them over to her trash bin. She opened then lid and unceremoniously let the bouquet fall.

She dragged herself upstairs to see Ikuto changed into a pair of sweats and a sleeping shirt. He held out his arms and she fell into them. She was so tired, physically and emotionally. She allowed Ikuto to help her change into her pajamas and then picked her up and laid her on the bed. He went downstairs and made sure that the door was locked and that all the lights were off as Amu crawled under the covers.

He saw the white flowers poking out of the trash can. Was this her form of closure? He hurried back upstairs, turning off the bedroom light as he entered. Amu was already sound asleep, her breaths deep and even. Carefully he climbed into bed and wrapped his arms around her.

"I... love you... Ikuto..." She muttered in her sleep. She involuntarily snuggled closer to him.

He smiled tenderly, "I love you too, Amu." He made himself comfortable, and let sleep overtake him.

For now, they were in their own little world. For now, everything was going to be alright.


	4. Chapter 4

A little less than two weeks had passed. Everyone had seemed to accept Ikuto's return after Amu explained what had happened, and further to support her claim, Kairi and Yaya were in the restaurant when the scene took place and said to have witnessed it.

_"You two were there?"_

_ "Yeah, Kairi said he wanted to go out someplace fancy for a change. We had no idea it was the same restaurant you had chosen!"_

And no one had heard a word from Tadase since that night.

"Alright class, you can leave early today," Amu instructed. Her students cheered in response as they rushed out of the classroom. She breathed a sigh of relief as the last child went out the door.

"Have a nice weekend, Hinamori-sensei!"

"You too!" She replied as she began to gather her things. It was Friday, and for once she didn't have any work to complete over the weekend. It would just be her and Ikuto. She hitched her satchel over one shoulder and exited her classroom. Shouting was suddenly heard from the opposite end of the hall.

"Big Sis! There's trouble!" Ami came sprinting down the hallway. Amu immediately noticed various scratches and bumps on her sister's body.

"What's wrong?" She saw that Ami was carrying a gold harp, and her hair clip was a music note.

"X-Eggs are attacking the garden! We can't hold them off by ourselves, we need to _Charanari!"_ The two ran to the gardens, praying the other Guardians could survive until they arrived.

"How many are there?" Amu demanded. She could sense a massive wave of negative energy in the direction they were heading.

"I-I don't know... Fifty perhaps? They're everywhere!" Suddenly her Chara Change timed out, and her Shugo Chara, Hibiki, appeared.

Ami was the current Queen's Chair of the Seiyo Academy Guardians. Hibiki represented her dream to become a musician, preferably a harpist. He was dressed in a formal suit, like one would wear to an orchestra concert. "The others must have timed out as well, we need to hurry!"

They entered the gardens, Ami cried out, "Ryuu, Yui, Shiro, where are you? I got Big Sister, we can transform now!"

A boy with dark blue eyes and silver hair ran up to them; this was Ryuu, the King's Chair. His Chara, Satoshi, was clad in the silver armor of a knight. Their dream was to be someone who could protect others in times of need, no matter how grand the crisis. The current King shouted, "The other two are in the back, let's go!"

"Shiro's the best at Chara Changes," Ami stated. "He and Naoki should be doing okay." Sure enough they encountered the raven-haired boy of the Jack's Chair, clad in a mystic cape and holding a staff and fighting off the X-Eggs with spells. Shiro's dream was to be the silent, mysterious magician who solved trouble and then disappeared without a trace. He wanted to be a hero, but preferred to stay an enigma.

Yui was standing behind him with her Chara, Aya. Yui was a brunette with matching eyes, and her female Chara was a blonde with eyes of indigo. Her dream was to become a world famous artist, and to possibly create her own manga. She was the Ace's Chair, completing the Guardian's quartet. The group finally reconvened as the X-Eggs swarmed around them.

But these eggs were different, instead of the standard white X, all of these eggs had X's that were a deep, blood red. "Alright everyone!" Amu called out, the Humpty Lock began to glow, _"NOW!"_

The four children shouted in unison, _"Watashi no kokoro... UNLOCK!"_

_"Charanari: Mystic Aria!"_ Ami was now dressed in a sparkling silver concert gown, with an ornate golden harp in hand. Her long, curly brown hair was held in place by a silver headband with a large music note on it.

_"Charanari: Valiant Hero!"_ Ryuu was now a knight in shining white armor. Fully equipped with his sword and shield, he looked ready to lead his friends into battle.

_"Charanari: Radiant Colors!"_ Yui was now in a paint-splattered artist's smock with a small black beret on her head. She had a palette in one hand and her paintbrush in the other. Her transformation was the most practical, since she could bring any object to life with her paint or sketchpad.

_"Charanari: Silent Masquerade!"_ Shiro looked very spiffy in his tuxedo and cape combo. The boy also wore a top hat and a small mask that covered his eyes, hiding his 'identity.' His weapon was a staff with a large crystal on top. Having all completed their transformations, Ryuu took the lead.

"Guardians, move out! Divide and conquer!"

Amu then added, "Let's try and see if someone can develop a purification technique! Don't be afraid to try something new! Work together!"

_"Vibrant Creation!"_ Radiant Colors dabbed her paintbrush on the palette, then waved it about the air. Fishing nets appeared and zoomed around, catching a few X-Eggs within them. 'Now for the finisher!' She drew a heart in the air; it flashed multiple colors as it flew towards the eggs. _"Rainbow Grace!"_ Unfortunately, the X-Eggs broke free of the net and evaded the attack. But instead of retaliating, they flew off to a different target. "Amu-sensei, watch out!"

The eggs were upon her before she could turn around, but luckily Valiant Hero was not too far off.

_"Bravery Shield!"_ The shield expanded to nearly three times its size as he threw it. It flew in front of Amu not a second too soon, blocking the incoming X-Eggs along with the ones she was currently fighting. A pink and green whisk appeared in her hand.

_"Remake Honey!"_ The attack was supposed to purify the eggs, but again they swerved out of the way. 'What's going on here? I don't ever remember X-Eggs moving this fast!'

Mystic Aria began to strum her harp, _"Spotlight Melody!"_ The technique was supposed to make herself the target of the X-Egg assault, hoping that they would leave her sister alone.

But yet again it failed!

There was only one last thing Amu could do. She pointed to one of the X-Eggs, _"Negative Heart, Lock On!"_ None of them would stay still, but she had no choice! She formed a heart with her hands, swinging it in a wide arc, trying to hit as many eggs as possible. _"Open Heart!"_

Using Open Heart without a specific target was very dangerous, since one couldn't determine the amount of energy needed to finish the attack. Regardless, Amu sustained the blast for as long as her body could endure before collapsing to the ground. She had managed to purify about a quarter of the X-Eggs present. Mystic Aria rushed to her sister's defense.

_"Aegis Harmony!" _A barrier of energy formed around the two, which emitted a dull "Gong!" each time one of the X-Eggs bounced off of it. She kneeled next to Amu, "Are you okay?"

"Yes, but... I don't understand... Why can't we purify them?" She pushed herself into a sitting position, but then winced in pain.

"Let me help,_ Healing Tune!"_ The barrier protecting them dissolved into silver music notes, swirling around the older woman. She carefully stood up, feeling her strength returning.

Silent Masquerade dashed over, _"Freeze Point!"_ Half of the remaining X-Eggs became encased in ice. Radiant Colors quickly joined him, crossing her paintbrush over his staff, _"Charmed Shadows!"_ They both shouted. Black and rainbow beams of energy rocketed forth from their weapons and wrapped themselves around the X-Eggs; they flashed twice, and were purified.

Valiant Hero followed up behind them, _"Sacred Oath!"_ He swung his sword twice, forming a large white X; it engulfed several more X-Eggs, cleansing them as well.

"Ready to finish this?" Amu asked. Mystic Aria nodded, standing bravely at her side. Amu summoned her globe as her little sister began to play an elaborate melody. Silver and gold stars began to swirl around them, drawing the remaining X-Eggs into the vortex.

_"Shining Sorority!"_

The stars exploded outward into a great pillar of light. The battle was over; the Heart Eggs were back to normal. Everyone exited their _Charanari_ forms, exhausted.

Ami flopped down on the ground, "I've never seen so many X-Eggs in all my life! And what's up with all the red X's? Are they mad at us?"

Naoki hovered by Shiro's shoulder, the brim his miniature top hat was pulled over his eyes. He seemed, scared almost. "Those Eggs... They were in... So much pain..."

Satoshi nodded in agreement, "They were sent here specifically. Never have I seen X-Eggs attack with such precision!" He pointed to Amu, "And it seemed like they all wanted to strike Hinamori-sensei, correct?"

"Perhaps it was because she didn't _Charanari?"_ Hibiki asked as he sat on Ami's shoulder.

Aya shook her head sadly, "That can't be it, Hinamori-sensei has been with us for every battle, and not once did X-Eggs hone in on her like that!"

Ryuu folded his hands behind his head, "Maybe they were sent to eliminate the Joker, so that no one could use the Humpty Lock!"

"That's nonsense!" Ami replied, "If they were after the Humpty Lock, they would have to destroy the Dumpty Key as well!"

They continued to debate their theories. Amu, however, could not get her sister's statement out of her mind. '... Destroy the Dumpty Key as well... I better get home to make sure Ikuto's safe!' She turned towards the Guardians, her expression meant business. "King and Queen, you two are responsible for finding out why these X-Eggs are being controlled! Jack and Ace, you're in charge of finding possible sources! I would like you all to have a full report by Monday!" Her tone softened, "And I want you all to be safe; we don't know what we're up against." She turned to leave.

"Wait, Big Sis!" Ami grabbed her hand. "Mama wants you and Ikuto to come over for dinner tonight, 'Kay?"

"Okay, what time do you want us?"

"Six-thirty, don't be late!"

"We won't, I promise!" Amu waved to the others, "Have a good weekend!"

"Bye Amu-sensei!" They shouted and waved in return.

She glanced at her watch, it was quarter after four. She'd go home to make sure everything was alright with Ikuto, then they would get ready to head over to her parents house for dinner. She strode into the parking lot and got into her car. She adjusted her mirrors and put it in drive. Her brakes emitted a strange squealing noise as she pulled out into the road. 'That's odd...' She thought. She hesitated to pull over and call someone else for a ride home, but decided against it, thinking that she would just need to replace the brake fluid before she went to her parents' for dinner. Fortunately, a majority of her route are straight roads, except for one intersection. 'Ugh... I hate this street; people are always so careless...'

Red light, she had to stop. She carefully applied the brakes, there was that estranged squealing again, followed by a loud snap. Her brakes failed, her car wouldn't stop!

She panicked and grasped for emergency brake, again there was another sharp snap, as if the device had been broken in two. 'W-Why isn't it working?' Amu's car was flung into the middle of the intersection, stopping dead center amidst the oncoming vehicles. She heard the blare of a horn, and looked to her left.

Everything seemed to move in slow motion. Amu vaguely remembered screaming as she recognized what was about to happen. The lights of the approaching pick-up truck flashed, trying to get her out of they way, since it couldn't stop. There was a tremendous crash, and she felt her entire body go numb. All she could see was grey as the airbags deployed. Another crash from the other side flung her body against the driver's side door, and she felt a searing pain against her forehead. Her entire body was limp, she couldn't move. Everything looked as if she were viewing it from the end of a long tunnel—

Then all was darkness.

xxxxx

_"Amu-chan? Wake up ~nya!"_ A tiny voice called out to her.

_ "Please wake up, Amu-chan!" _Several other small voices chorused.

Her eyes flew open, she was... floating? She looked around to see that she was in a glittering realm of stars. "Egg's Cradle..." She whispered. But why was she here?

"Amu-chan!" Five small figures zoomed in front of her face. She immediately recognized them.

"Ran, Miki, Su, and Dia! ...Yoru?" She flung her arms out to hug the small Charas, overjoyed. "Why am I here? What's going on?"

"Someone tried to take you out ~nya!" Yoru began.

"The Broken Heart Eggs—the Red X-Eggs, you saw early—had been ordered to sabotage your car," Miki continued as she sketched one in her book.

"Someone was able to control them by taking their most painful memories and using them against those poor Eggs," Su folded her hands against her chest, saddened.

"When you got hurt, we brought your spirit here so we could warn you!" Ran frowned, "Someone very powerful is manipulating the Eggs to hurt you in anyway possible..."

"Well, who is it?" Amu asked, "Can't you tell me?"

Dia shook her head sadly, "No... We can't reveal that to you, we're not even supposed to be able to converse with you right now..."

Amu began to hear voices from the outside. _"What's the patient's status? "Crash victim, Hinamori Amu, age twenty-one. Multiple lacerations to the head and chest area, profuse bleeding." _

"Oh no!" Su cried out, pointing to Amu's neck, "The Humpty Lock is broken!"

Miki flew over to her and took the lock off of the chain, and then placed it in Amu's hand. "It must have been shattered in the crash..."

All four crystals had been smashed, and the lock itself had seemed to have been crumpled like a piece of paper. "No..." Amu whispered. "What are we going to do now?" Her voice was hysterical, "The Guardians—they need me—the Humpty Lock—need to _Charanari..._ How—X-Eggs—_what are we going to do? We're defenseless!" _

Dia and Ran looked to each other and nodded. "If we use the power of Egg's Cradle, We should be able to fix it," They concluded simultaneously.

Once again voices from the outside cut through to Amu's mind. _"She's hemorrhaging! She's lost too much blood!" "Damnit, we're losing her!" "AMU, DON'T YOU DARE LEAVE ME!" _

The last voice was so painfully familiar, "Ikuto...? I'm... dying...?" The Charas' faces filled with terror, Yoru rushed forward.

"Hurry up ~nya! I _won't_ let Ikuto lose you ~nya!" He placed a hand onto the Humpty Lock, and the others quickly followed suit. A bright flash of light ensued as the Lock was restored.

_"L-Look at that! The bleeding's stopped!" "WH-what's happening? Her vitals just spiked!" "Stay with me Amu, please!"_

Amu felt herself beginning to fade back into reality as the light subsided. She saw out of the corner of her eye a black ord. someone was huddled inside of it. She identified the trapped Chara after spotting the small crown on its head. "Kiseki?" As she vanished from Egg's Cradle, she saw a large, red X form over the orb. She tried to reach out to him, but it was too late.

xxxxx

_ "Her vitals are stable, and she's recovering at a rapid rate... Nothing seems to be broken and other than a few cuts and a few black and blue spots she seems to be perfectly fine... But we're unsure if she'll wake from this comatose state..." _

_ "What do you mean you're unsure?"_

_ "The trauma her head endured could have severely damaged the frontal lobe—"_

_ "And?"_

_ "She could never wake up..."_

Amu opened her eyes by a small margin to see a doctor exiting the room. She saw her parents and sister crowded along the side of her bed. Ikuto was not to far off standing in the corner, one hand covering his face. His shoulders were shaking as silent sobs escaped him. She wanted to reach out to him, to tell him that she was okay, but she couldn't make her body move, she couldn't make her mouth speak.

Ami attempted to be optimistic. "Hey, the doctor said 'could' right?" Regardless of her effort to be strong, tears began to fall down her cheeks, "So... s-so Big Sis c-could still w-wake up... r-right?" Her mother was sobbing into her father's shoulder, who was crying as well. He reached out his hand to caress the side of his daughter's face.

"Oh my Amu-chan, my little sparrow... please wake up... Please let your Papa know you're okay..." Amu let her eyes flutter open, stunning them all into silence. She smiled and mouthed, "I'm fine." Her mother began crying again in earnest as her sister hugged her gently.

Amu finally managed to raise her voice. "Ikuto!" She broke off into a coughing spasm; it felt like someone had punched her in the ribs. Slowly he turned around, his face portraying a magnitude of shock, and once again his face lit up like she had not seen in years. The doctors swarmed in, performing all sorts of tests to see if she really was awake and, well, alive. Eventually they agreed to release Amu the next morning. There was so much happiness in the air, but the two sisters exchanged a dark glance, knowing that this was not an accident. She mouthed the word "Sabotaged," and her little sister nodded. They needed answers.

Someone wanted Amu dead.

Someone was controlling the X-Eggs and possibly possessing the Charas from Egg's Cradle.

The question was... Who was this person?

And how far would they go?


	5. Chapter 5

After all the hype about Amu's brush with death had passed, the months seemingly flew by with the autumn breeze. Winter passed with a subtle chill, and suddenly it was spring. Amu had thankfully survived the accident unscathed, and had put all of that behind her. The Red X-Eggs—she disliked to think of them as broken hearts—had continued to pop up, continuously targeting her. Eventually she forced herself to tell Ikuto, who reacted with nothing less that panic.

His response was to make himself Amu's personal escort, with the current Guardians as her entourage whenever possible. All of the past Guardians had been informed of the crisis and everyone had been continuously searching for the source. So far, everyone had turned up empty-handed. But whenever the X-Eggs showed up, the Guardians were there to purify them. This left the amount of alone time Amu had with Ikuto to be rather restricted, but her boyfriend insisted that it was worth it as long as she was safe. The nights were still _theirs_ at least...

And still though all of this... No one had seen Tadase.

The nature of the relationship between Amu and Ikuto had shifted since his reappearance. Ikuto was more open with her, and there was a seemingly unbreakable trust between them. Slowly, over the months he had managed to put Amu back together from a state she swore she would never heal from—despite the fact that he was the one who had put her in that state originally. There was much more to them than just love, it was... An indescribable completion of sorts. Of hearts, of souls.

The days they spent together followed a rather consistent cycle: they woke up, ate breakfast, Amu left for work, Ikuto went out and played his violin on the street or he goes for a ride on his recently acquired motorcycle—he justified the buy by saying that if another emergency ever happened, and should he have to get somewhere fast, he'd need something more reliable than a car. Continuing with their routine, in the afternoon Amu, escorted by a member of the Guardians, would arrive home and do work such as grading papers or whatnot, Ikuto would come home about ten minutes later and they would plan dinner. Afterwards, they would spend the remaining hours together as they pleased.

Amu had just gotten home; Ryuu had been selected as her sentinel for the day. The silver-haired boy hopped out of the car as she closed the door.

"Are you _sure_ you don't want me to drive you home? Isn't your house a bit far from here?"

"Hinamori-sensei, please don't worry about me. The X-Eggs are still at large and while they are, you're still at risk." He placed a fist over his heart and gave a short bow, Satoshi mimicked the gesture. "Our mission is to protect the Joker, no matter the cost!" The boy started down the road at a quick pace.

"Stay safe!" Amu called after him. He waved to let her know that he had heard her. She sighed as she went inside her house and hung up her coat. She pulled out a stack of papers that needed to be graded and sat down at her computer. She extracted a red pen from the depths of her satchel and went to work grading various quizzes, tests and assignments.

About fifteen minutes later the roar of an engine was heard, and then cut. Seconds later the front door was being opened, Ikuto was home. "Hey there," He walked up to her and planted a kiss on her cheek.

Amu still had her back turned to him, "Hey," She replied. "How was your day?" She gathered a stack of completed papers and put them back into her bag, halfway done.

"Pretty normal... I had a run in with some of those Broken Heart Eggs, and the Guardians had a pretty fierce battle about thirty minutes ago."

She spun around to face him, "Is everyone okay? You didn't get hurt, did you?" He shook his head.

"They seemed to have targeted Ami and me, but everyone's fine, don't worry. You're sister sure is quite some fighter, I'll give her that. You taught them all very well."

Amu smiled, "Thank you!" She noticed that he was carrying a white motorcycle helmet under his arm, "Did you get a new helmet? What happened to your black one?"

"Oh, this?" He held it in his hands and walked over to her, putting it on her head in one fluid motion.

"Wh-What are you doing?"

"Hold still," He ordered. After looking at the helmet on her for a few moments, "Seems sturdy enough." He knocked on the helmet twice, "A perfect fit, good."

Amu yanked it off of her head and scowled momentarily, before smiling again, "Why did you get me a helmet? Is there a special occasion or something?"

"No special reason... I just wanna take you for a ride tonight, and I can't do that unless you got a helmet." He grinned. "I was thinking that maybe we could have a little picnic or something similar. I found this one spot that overlooks the town, I bet it would be beautiful to sit there and look at the stars tonight."

Amu laughed, "What brought this about?"

Ikuto shrugged, "I don't know, I'm feeling... Rather spontaneous."

She rolled her eyes as she finished grading the papers; as soon as she was done she headed to the kitchen. "What time is it?" She asked as she pulled out a loaf of bread from the pantry.

"Ten of six," Ikuto replied as he watched her begin to make a few sandwiches. She pulled out a small cooler, the kind that had the shoulder strap, and tossed a couple ice packs in there. She added two cans of soda and placed the entire thing in the refrigerator so that it would stay cold until they were ready to leave. He watched her intently, but a small frown graced his features. He walked over to the counter and leaned against it. "...Can I talk to you about something?"

Amu paused, and looked curiously at him, "Of course but... You know you don't have to ask, right?"

"Yeah but I've been thinking..." He let the statement trail off.

She shook her head and said playfully, "Now Ikuto, don't you know thinking's a rather dangerous pastime?"

"Amu... I'm serious." He scratched the back of his head, letting his breath out in a great 'Whoosh!' "Ami and I were discussing the possible source of the X-Eggs."

"And...?" Amu prompted.

"And we think that... Tadase might be behind all of this," He held up his hand to silence her protest, "Let me finish. We only suspect him because he's the only one without an alibi and he's the only one with a possible motive. I don't want to blame him... I just can't... And since no one's been in contact with him, no one's able to prove anything, innocence or guilt."

She gasped, "But Tadase... he wouldn't! I know I hurt him, but there's no way—!"

"Some people do crazy things when their hearts get broken... I would know." They let the subject drop and were silent as Amu pulled out the cooler again and finished packing it. Ikuto checked his watch, "We better get on the road soon, the place I found is pretty off the beaten path, and I'm not _quite_ sure on the exact route."

Amu chuckled and grabbed the cooler, putting the strap over her head so that it would stay in place when they were on the motorcycle. She then grabbed Ikuto's violin and slung it over her shoulder the same way. He looked at her questioningly when he saw the instrument across her back, but she simply replied, "It'll be easier traveling this way and you know it." He rolled his eyes and grabbed an old blanket for them to sit on, tossing it to Amu. He picked up her helmet, put in on her head, and led her outside.

They both mounted the bike. Ikuto put on his helmet as Amu wrapped her arms around his waist. He turned around, looking her dead in the eye. "Don't let go," He warned. She nodded, pressing the side of her face into his back. He revved the engine twice and sped off, "Hold on!" The speed was exhilarating. They sped along the streets. They weaved in and out of traffic, keeping just within the speed limit. They soared along the ground, racing along the edge on the road, alongside the tree line. Suddenly he veered of the road and into the woods.

"What are you doing?"

"I said the place I found was off the beaten path,"

"I didn't think you meant literally!"

He chuckled; she could feel his back rumble with the action. "Just hand tight!" The motorcycle went faster, free from the restraints of speed limits. They were approaching a large log that had fallen over. Amu began to panic.

"We're not going to jump that are—?" She screamed as the bike went airborne. They cleared the log with ease, having used a nearby rock as a ramp.

"You okay?" Ikuto quickly skidded to a halt, looking over his shoulder at her.

"I-I'm f-fine..." Her grip around his waist tightened. He started up the bike again and continued onward. They continued to zoom through the forest, eventually coming upon a small clearing that opened to a ridge. They pulled over and Ikuto smirked as they dismounted.

"Amu, you can let go now..." The entire ride had taken them a little over an hour. Ikuto led her over to the edge of the ridge, where they could see the entire town beneath them. The sun had finished setting a while ago and the moon and stars were shining brightly in the sky,

She gasped at the sight of all the twinkling lights, "So beautiful..." She whispered.

Ikuto snaked an arm around her shoulders, "Yes," He agreed. "You are."

She pushed herself away from him, embarrassed. He laid the old blanket down on the ground and sat on it, patting a spot next to him. Amu let out a sigh and unloaded her luggage before pulling out their food. So they sat and ate, talking all the while. They reminisced about everything, good times and bad. It was a joyous thing, to feel so free and at peace with the world. After they finished they laid down on the blanket together, looking at the stars. Ikuto knew a great deal about constellations, and he decided to teach Amu a thing or two.

"...If you look to those two stars right by the moon, that's Canis Minor, the Little Dog, and over there... over there that's Carnia. I don't really know what it is, but I've heard it was part of something much larger, like a ship or something."

Amu rolled onto her side, "Are then any cats up there?"

He rolled his eyes and pointed to a far corner of the sky, "If you look really hard, you can see Lynx. It wasn't named after the animal, but it was said that only one with the eyes of a lynx could see it."

"Hmm... I can't see it..." She sat up, Ikuto mimicked her. Her hand brushed against his, "Could you... play the violin for me, please?"

"Sure," He stood up and pulled out the instrument. He began to play a new song, and as Amu listened quickly the music evolved into a story. A tale of two lovers, torn apart and rejoined by fate. It spoke of strength, and of weakness, of sorrow, and of joy. Truly it was their song. She stared up at him in awestruck wonder, and again she realized with a tremendous surge of joy that he was _hers_. The song began to bridge into something much more familiar. It was Utau's song. Amu realized with a jolt that she could apply the song to them as well.

_"In this world of darkness,_

_When my heart cries out for help,_

_You are the one there for me,_

_When the world starts to fall,_

_In the darkest moment of night,_

_The only start left in the sky,_

_Is you."_

Amu sang along to the violin, their voices merging into a beautiful duet. They continued to sing for a few minutes and as Ikuto brought the song to a close, a star suddenly shot across the sky. She hopped up, "A shooting star!" She folded her hands together to make a wish. The moment was so perfect, she couldn't really think of anything to wish for. Eventually she settled on, 'I wish we could be safe, I wish we could feel like this forever.' She looked to Ikuto to see that he had put his violin away and had his hands folded as well. She smiled, happy to see that even Ikuto wasn't too old for star-wishes.

Curious, Amu asked, "What did you wish for?"

He shook his head, "If I tell you, it won't come true."

"Oh come on! I'll tell you mine if you tell me yours first!"

"I'm not going to let your wish go to waste as well," He smirked and sighed.

"Can you _please_ tell me?"

"No."

_"Pretty please?"_

"No, Amu!" He was being highly evasive, and he actually seemed agitated by it at that point.

She frowned, "Okay, you don't have to tell me if you really won't want to..."

He let out a small chuckle, "It's not that..."

"Then what is it?"

"My wish, it's... Complicated."

"...Really?" Amu vividly remembered when they were hunting for the Embryo, his wish then was to be free... It seemed like such a simple concept, could a wish really be complicated?

He stood up and pulled something out of his pocket, a small black box, small enough to wrap his hand around it. He held it against his chest. "Once upon a time there was a beautiful princess. She was loved and admired by everyone she knew, for she was the fairest one of all. Among her admirers was a lonely alley cat, of whom no one really liked and preferred to stay away from. He tried to steal from the princess to get her attention; he had failed, but he began to get to know her. He learned that she was more than just a princess and she learned that he was more than just an alley cat. The alley cat vowed to always be there whenever the princess—_his_ princess—needed him. But one day, dark clouds covered his mind, making him forget about the kindness she had shown him, and driving them to battle against one another."

Amu nodded slowly, she knew this story well, but how would he end it?

"But eventually, the princess was able to drive the clouds of darkness away from his mind, and for a while, they were happy," He took a deep breath. "The years pasted... and they were happy. Until one day, the alley cat had received an order that was supposedly from his princess, which banished him from the kingdom. Saddened and hurt by this, he fled to a faraway land, thinking that the princess no longer cared about him. But that wasn't true; the princess became worried when her dear friend had stopped visiting, and when she found out that he left, she became just as saddened as he was. And so the years passed... and they were completely and utterly miserable."

He focused on the moon; his eyes were conflicted, debating whether or not to go on. "The alley cat... he never forgot about his princess. One day, he decided that he would visit her, to try and discover the truth. He wanted to know why he was sent away, he wanted to see if he could set things right, and make the princess love him again. He wanted her back... more than everything. After days of searching the alley cat had finally found his princess, and they both discovered that he was tricked into leaving. They were overjoyed at their reunion, and rekindled their lost love."

"And do they live happily ever after?" Amu asked carefully.

"I... I don't know the end of the story, so I can't really say."

She then asked, "Well, what's the alley cat going to do now that he has his princess back? That would be a good place to start."

Ikuto looked to the black box in his hand, "What's the alley cat going to do...?" he softly repeated. He reached down and pulled Amu to her feet. "He's going to want to spend the rest of his life with her," He went down on one knee, opening the box to reveal a splendid diamond ring. It was silver, and the stone was crafted so that it looked like a blooming flower. "And that can only happen if his princess answers one simple question, a question that this alley cat has been dying to ask his entire life." He took one of her hands within his. It was like the moment he had reentered her life, but this time, his smile was warm and genuine; his eyes were anxious, yet hopeful.

Time.

Just.

Stopped.

"Amu Hinamori... Will you... Marry me?"

She couldn't help herself, she had started to cry. She nodded wordlessly, but eventually found the voice to whisper_, "Yes... Oh God, of course I will!" _After he had slid the ring on her finger she glomped him, crying, "I do, I do, I do!" They collapsed onto the old blanket, with Amu straddling him. Ikuto smiled, lighting up the entire night. He cupped her face.

"Mrs. Amu Tsukiyomi... It has a very nice ring to it, don't you think?"

She grabbed him and kissed him with a shocking amount of passion. Fireworks seemed to have ignited within them and about them. It was like they had just met for the first time, it was like their first kiss, it was like they had known each other their entire lives... it was an eternity of happiness of all possible situations within one solidarity moment.

Very reluctantly, they pulled apart. "I love you," She whispered. "You have no idea how much I love you."

Ikuto caressed the sides of her face with his hands, marveling at how it just fit between them, he embraced her, "Thank you," He murmured into her hair.

The amount of sincerity in his voice was absolutely stunning. It confused her, "For... what?"

He stroked her hair for a few moments, just cherishing the moment they were having. He stood up and pulled her up with him. The light of the moon reflected in his eyes an ethereal beauty, his eyes shone with the overwhelming amount of love he held for the woman beside him. He looked to the stars and smiled.

"Thank you... for making my wish come true."


	6. Chapter 6

A month and a half passed in the wake of excited wedding planning and hectic invitation writing. Nearly everyone Amu had known from school or met with through her time in the Guardians had been invited, and all of them had replied that they would come.

Her bridesmaids (Rima, Yaya, and Utau as the Maid of Honor) had kidnapped Amu the day before, saying that they were sticking to tradition. The groom could not see his bride twenty-four hours before the wedding; he also couldn't see her in her wedding dress because that-supposedly-would cause bad luck.

They had taken her to Rima's to stay the night and it was there where they were now getting her into her dress, doing her hair and makeup and trying to calm her down.

"B-but what if I trip going down the aisle? What if I drop the ring? What if I forget my vows-?"

"You practiced, like, a thousand times!" Yaya replied, "Don't worry!"

The doorbell then rang, Rima rushed to open it. "Hello Midori-san!"

Amu's mother smiled in return, "Can I see my daughter? There's something I need to give her before the..." She couldn't bring herself to say 'wedding.' She took a breath and added, "Ami and Yui are here to get their dresses."

"Sure, Utau's doing her hair upstairs."

"Let's go! I wanna see Amu's dress!" Ami dashed up the steps and into Rima's room.

Yui and Midori sighed as they followed her, Rima let out a small giggle as she trailed behind. Her phone suddenly went off, she whipped it out and looked at the caller ID, 'Nagi!' she thought cheerfully.

_"How r things w/Amu? We r picking up the groom now."_

_ "Every1's gettin dressed, how r u?"_

_ "Im good, but I g2g, c u the wedding. 3"_

_ "K, I'll b the 1 next 2 the girl in white."_

_ "XD,"_

She went into her room to see Yaya helping the two younger girls into their junior bridesmaid dresses. All of the dresses were a sky blue with silver lining with matching heels. Utau had just finished with Amu's hair, which now hung in pink ringlets as the idol attached her veil. The humpty Lock still hung around her neck. Carefully she stood up and faced the others, "How do I look?"

Her mom walked over and embraced her, "You look so beautiful... I'm so proud of you..." Midori then pulled out a blue handkerchief and handed it to her.

"What's this for?"

_"Something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue,"_ She explained. "This belonged to your grandmother, and she would have wanted you to carry it down the aisle,"

"Thank you..." Amu whispered.

Utau then decided to take charge, "Okay everyone! We have one hour until Amu needs to be on that altar, we need to finish getting everyone ready, now!"

Amu took one last glance at herself in the mirror, today was supposed to be the happiest day of her life, 'But why do I feel like something's going to go wrong?'

xxxxx

Ikuto glanced at himself in the mirror in the bathroom while straightening his bow tie, underneath it hung the Dumpty Key. He was nervous, which seemed out of character somehow. "Today, I'm marrying the girl of my dreams," He whispered aloud, trying to boost his confidence. 'But why do I feel like something's wrong? Am I just being paranoid?'

The doorbell rang, interrupting his thoughts. 'That must be Kukai with the others,' He thought as he went downstairs and opened the door. All of the groomsmen were present: Shiro, Ryuu, Nagihiko, Kairi, and Kukai as the Best Man.

"Well, well, well if it isn't the groom-to-be!" Kukai shouted as everyone entered the house. "How are you enjoying your final hours of freedom?"

The other men laughed, but Shiro pointed out, "Kukai-san, aren't you engaged to Utau? Doesn't that mean your days of freedom are numbered as well?"

That enticed a greater chorus of laughter as Kukai shot back, "Th-that's not the point! I'm not getting married for a while! He's getting married today!"

Ikuto chuckled lightheartedly, "I don't see marriage as the end of my freedom, but you definitely should since your marrying my sister," He paused. "No, I see today as the start of the rest of my life."

"That certainly is an interesting way to see it," Kairi commented.

A sudden hush fell upon the group as Ikuto noticed a seemingly empty space amongst his companions. "He should be here..." He muttered, looking downcast.

The others immediately caught onto whom he was speaking of.

"Regardless of everything, Tadase should be here..."

Nagihiko frowned, "But didn't you think he's the one in charge of the Broken Heart Eggs?"

"I know my brother... He's too strong to give into that kind of darkness."

A note of sadness hung within the air for a few moments. Kukai—like Utau before him—took it upon himself to spur the group back into action. "There's no point in moping about what can't be changed. Now come on guys, we need to hightail it to the wedding or else we'll be late!"

They immediately snapped out of the despondent trance as they all murmured words of agreement and filed outside to cram themselves into Kukai's Trailblazer.

Ikuto shook his head, _'Tadase... Gomenasai...'_

xxxxx

If one could summarize the feelings of everyone on the day of the wedding in on word, it would be... Frantic. The groomsmen frantically ushered all of the guests to their seats, the groom frantically glanced around the church, hoping to catch one glimpse of his frantic bride. The Maid of Honor swore all sorts of unimaginable oaths into her phone, threatening the men setting up the reception, who frantically worked to make everything perfect.

Frantic, in a word, summed up everything.

Amu, her father, and the bridesmaids were situated in a small room in the back of the church. Utau had finally tucked her phone away and was now pacing the room, "Well?" She demanded, "What's taking everyone else so long to get started?"

The bride felt a flutter of butterflies within her stomach, what _was _taking them so long? "Utau..." She pleaded, "You're really not helping much right now..." The idol got the message and shut her mouth.

Kukai then entered the small room, "We're ready for the bridesmaids to enter in about twenty seconds. Better get ready!" Rima and Yaya grabbed their small bouquets of pink and white carnations as Utau took Kukai's arm. The two bridesmaids would walk side by side down the aisle and the Maid of Honor would follow them, escorted by the Best Man. The quartet exited the room and just as they exited Shiro and Ryuu entered.

Silently Ami and Yui each grabbed a basket of rose petals as Shiro picked up a stain pillow holding two rings. The rings on the pillow were fakes, just for show; the real rings were in Kukai's possession, as it was the Best Man's job to carry them. Ryuu then Chara Changed, getting a white sword attached to his belt. The current King would escort the ring bearer, who would be followed by the two flower girls. It was purely symbolic that Ryuu was there; he represented the King that was missing, and also he represented the needs of matrimony: the need to protect one another. The young Guardians got into formation, and then turned to bow before their mentor before exiting. She let out a shuttering breath, and Amu's father grabbed her hand, trying to comfort her.

"Well this is it, isn't it my little sparrow?" He sniffed, as if he were fighting back tears, "You're all ready to lead your own life with your husband..." A few tears escaped him. "Don't forget your family now, okay?"

"Oh Papa..." She hugged him, "I'm getting _married,_ not leaving forever!" They separated and stood up, approaching the door. Her father handed her a bouquet of dark red roses. She linked one arm within his as they opened the door.

"No matter what, I'll always be your little girl."

xxxxx

Ikuto fidgeted on the altar as he waited for the ceremony to start. Midori was on his right, while Nagihiko and Kari stood on the left on the other side of the minister. Kukai had just disappeared into the room he _knew_ Amu was in. It took quite a bit of self control to keep himself from charging back there to see her. Being separated from Amu had made him rather paranoid about her safety to say the least.

Organ music then began to play as everyone turned around to see the procession. Yaya and Rima gracefully walked until they were in front of the altar, and then moved to the side to take their places by their respective man. Utau, led by Kukai, followed them, taking position directly to Ikuto's right. Ryuu's eyes were alert as he made his way to the altar; his hand was settled upon the hilt of his sword. Shiro, holding the rings, trailed quietly behind him. Cascades of rose petals fell upon the ground as Ami and Yui walked behind the two boys. As they reached the front, they all bowed towards the groom and went to sit on the pew in the front.

The organ music then shifted to The Bride's March, and slowly did she emerge. A clatter of gasps and notes of awe sprung up from the guests as Amu walked down the aisle with her father. Ikuto let out a small gasp of his own. "Amulet Fortune...?"

Her wedding dress was very reminiscent of the _Charanari. _Her veil was held in place by a small tiara that resembled the brooch the transformation bore. She had the same gloves, the same dress, except that it was closed in the front this time around. The white fabric and beige ribbons billowed elegantly as she moved. She didn't even appear to be walking, it as more like she was floating on air. Was it him, or did the Humpty Lock appear to shine around her neck with the same multicolored light as it did all those years ago? An eternity later she finally reached him, and her father proudly handed her off to him, and then went to stand next to Amu's mother. He could see her eyes though her veil, clear and bright and eager.

"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today..." The minister began.

The rest of the lines were lost upon them as the two stared into each others eyes. This was their moment. A murmur of unease rushed though the crowd as Amu saw the windows darken. Concern flashed though Ikuto's eyes as well. Was it going to rain? The weather report had been—was _supposed_ to be—clear all day. Amu raised and lowered on shoulder, telling him not to worry. The reception was inside, and worst come to worst, they would have to sprint to the limo when the ceremony was over. Suddenly, they both became acutely aware of what the minister was saying, and of a growing sense of darkness just beyond the church's entrance.

"If anyone can show just cause why this couple cannot be joined in marriage, speak now or forever hold your peace."

The door suddenly shot open as a blood red mist filled the building. People screamed and rushed to get out of the way of the strange anomaly. X-Eggs swarmed in, barring all exits. Thunder rumbled in the distance as a figure began to emerge from the ominous mist. Slowly he proceeded to walk down the aisle, a dark leer across his face. He continued until he was about two or three feet from Amu and Ikuto. The blonde intruder folded his arms as his violet eyes glared menacing at the two. Tadase Hotori smirked cruelly as the words flowed from his lips.

"I object."

There was a moment of utter silence as Ikuto looked to the ground, disgusted, "So it really _was_ you!" His voice betrayed multiple emotions, shock, anger, but mostly hurt. _"Otouto..._ I thought you were so much stronger than that..."

His little brother growled, "Shut up! You're in no position to call _me_ weak!"

"Why are you doing this Tadase?" Amu demanded. "Answer me!"

"Why, you ask?" His tone softened, and he looked at her sadly. "Because you deserve so much better!" He shook his head, "How is it that he is the better man for you? How?"

"Amu has made her decision; if you truly loved her, you would respect that!" Ikuto answered, stepping in front of his bride to protect her.

"I'm not going to let her throw her life away for some scum like _YOU!"_ The furious blonde shouted. _"If I can't have her, NOBODY WILL!"_ A black orb with a large red X on it hovered near Tadase's shoulder. It was Kiseki... The small Chara's head lolled to the side, as if it couldn't support itself. He chuckled darkly, "The Humpty Lock and the Dumpty Key, here together... That should be more than enough..."

Amu, realizing what he was about to do, shoved past Ikuto and reached out to the younger man, "Tadase, DON'T!"

_"Watashi no kokoro... UNLOCK!"_ He was enveloped in a tornado of dark energy, which exploded outward, revealing him to be dressed in archaic, medieval black armor. A rustic sword hung at his side as a black cape flowed behind him. His eyes were hollow with rage and madness_. "Charanari: Demon's Revenge!"_ He charged towards Amu, his sword at the ready, _"Sorrow Strike!"_

"Amu, get down!" Ikuto grabbed her and they ducked out of the way. A small explosion of black energy ensued as the attack collided with the altar.

'He wants to kill us!' She thought, panicking, 'He really wants to kill us!'

Ami and the other Guardians rushed to the rescue, _"Watashi no kokoro—"_

"Not on my watch!" Tadase shouted waving his hand towards Amu and Ikuto, two bolts of dark lighting shot towards them, _"Diaspora Seal!"_ The bolts collided with the Humpty Lock and Dumpty Key, blackening the crystals on them and disabling them. "Oh dear!" Demon's Revenge stated with mock concern, "How are the little Guardians going to _Charanari?"_ Another bout of dark laughter escaped him. He charged once more towards the bride, _"Sorrow Strike!"_

The Joker found herself frozen where she stood; she squeezed her eyes shut, hoping that it would end quickly. Her husband-to-be seized suddenly seized her wrist, pulling her behind him while simultaneously stepping in front of her. The attack struck him in the chest, causing him to crumple upon impact.

Amu cried out, _"IKUTO!"_ As she knelt by his side, "A-are you okay? _Speak to me!"_

Tadase walked up to her and knocked her aside with surprising strength. She flew into one of the pews, dazed. The blonde hummed the wedding march under his breath as he moved in on his brother for the kill. "I never liked you; did you know that, _Onii-san?_ You were everyone's favorite, you were the one they paid attention to, you spineless, pathetic alley cat!" He positioned the tip of his blade over Ikuto's heart, "And to top it all off, you think you can take what is oh-so-_rightfully_ mine..."

The blue haired man shook his head, "Amu—" He coughed, "—Belongs to no one! She is a person, not a prize!"

"That doesn't matter at the moment," Tadase moved the sword to his throat, his death would be much slower that way. "Time for you to _go die in a hole where you belong, you unwanted stray."_

The words echoed strangely in Amu's ears, and suddenly she was taken back to a moment, many those months ago...

xxxxx

_Dear Ikuto, it's time for you to know the truth. I don't love you, I never loved you. This was all a game for me. You are empty and deceitful and I hope you never find the slightest glimmer of happiness in this life. I pray I never have to see your face again. Go die in a hole where you belong, you unwanted stray._

_ Go die in a hole where you belong, you unwanted stray._

_ Go die._

_ You unwanted stray._

"Time for you to _go die in a hole where you belong, you unwanted stray."_

xxxxx

Shaking with fury, Amu searched for a weapon of some sort. Upon finding none, she took of one of her own heels. Carefully, she took aim and shouted, "EAT STILETTO, BITCH!" It was very unlike her to curse like that, but hey, she was beyond pissed. The shoe collided with Tadase's head, catching him off guard and stopping him from finishing off Ikuto.

"It was _YOU!"_ She thundered as she stomped over to recollect her heel, after it was safely on her foot once more she shouted, "You were the one who sent that note to Ikuto, weren't you? _WEREN'T YOU?"_

Tadase simply smiled, "So you've finally figured it out, huh?"

Ikuto forced himself to look away, his mind unable to process what he had just heard, "All those years ago... The cause of all of that pain... Was you?" He looked up to his little brother, _"WHY?"_

"She deserved so much better..." He repeated the mantra as he lumbered forward to attack again. "Deserved... So much better..." Amu yanked Ikuto to his feet and dragged him out of the way, the sword just barely missing him. The groom collapsed into her lap, as she frantically tried to think of a solution. 'What do I do? WHAT DO I DO? We're going to be killed if I don't do _something!'_

_"Amu-chan!" _ Several voices called out from deep within her mind.

"_Ikuto ~nya!" _Another yelled.

Demon's Revenge was upon them; his sword was raised to cut them down. Quickly Amu realized what needed to be done. She supported Ikuto head and brought her lips to his in one desperate declaration of true love. There was a great burst of light as the Humpy Lock and the Dumpty Key were restored. Their lips parted, and as Lock and Key joined they both shouted.

_"Watashi no kokoro... **UNLOCK!"**_

_"Charanari: Amulet Fortune!"_

_ "Charanari: Seven Seas Treasure!"_

Everyone stood still in one shocked moment of silence, "It worked!" Amu exclaimed. "It actually worked!"

Ikuto smirked, "This ought to level the playing field quite a bit, now won't it?"

She nodded in response; she then turned to the Guardians, "Leave this battle to us! Make sure everyone else is safe!" They all bobbed their heads in agreement and set off.

Seven Seas Treasure jumped into action, _"Emerald Line!"_

_"Sorrow Strike!" _The two began to duel with a frightening amount of deadly skill and precision. Strike met parry in a fusion of sparks as the clash of metal upon metal rang boldly throughout the air. Blows were exchanged at an alarming rate, the fence becoming a blur of rapid collision. Rage was borne on each contender's face, along with a deep-seated hatred for each other. Each attack was riskier than the last as each gunned for the other's throat. They both sought to draw blood, they both sought to kill.

Amulet Fortune was frightened by the violent exchange. Nothing would stop the battle until one of the combatants was dead. "This isn't right," She whispered, "You're _brothers!" _Her bouquet of roses was not too far away. Slowly she moved to pick it up, and it seemed to sparkle with a warm sort of brilliance. She carried it to the fight, "Please stop..." She begged. They ignored her. "STOP IT!" She demanded. She gritted her teeth, and then shouted, _"Briar Roses!"_ Thousand of petals shot out from her bouquet, immobilizing the two men. A calming aura surrounded her, the pride and wisdom of a bride. "To let yourself be consumed by hatred... To let anger control your actions... To quest for revenge... Don't you see that it's pointless?"

Tadase scoffed, "I have nothing left! What more can I do than give myself to those emotions? My dreams belong to the darkness... Actually, I don't think I have any dreams left." Amu released them from the roses' hold. He looked up to meet Amu's eyes; dead and hollow violet met vibrant amber. She could feel the emotions rolling off of him in waves.

Pain.

Loneliness.

Rage.

Anger.

Hurt.

Heartbreak.

He fell to his knees; the fight within him had vanished. Heart's Eggs began to swarm around him, X-Eggs and Broken Heart Eggs alike. It looked like he had aged in that moment, appearing weary and frail. Amu and Ikuto rushed over to his side, but were kept back by the hostile Eggs.

"Amu... Ikuto... Please... Save me..."

His power had far outstripped his body's endurance; he shuddered once more, looking pleadingly at his former love. She looked to Ikuto, who nodded.

"_Broken Heart..."_ Amu called out, just as Ikuto shouted, _"Negative Heart..." _They both cried out in unison, _"Lock on!"_ They each extended a head, forming a heart together. "True love... _OPEN HEART!"_ Magnificent bursts of pure white energy shot forward, enveloping Tadase and the X-Eggs in a sphere that seemed to fold around them like angel wings. It formed a great shining pillar, and the darkness seemingly dissolved. The silhouette of a human kneeled in its center and as it slowly stood up, it seemed to disintegrate.

_"Otouto!" _Ikuto tried to move forward to save him, but Amu stopped him.

"It's over... He had given so much of himself to that negativity, he became it... He'll be... He'll be okay now... Where he's going... He'll be happy..."

The pillar suddenly vanished, along with the figure within it. Tadase's final words were just a whisper on the breeze.

_"Thank you..."_


	7. Chapter 7

Nearly three hours later, everyone had worked together to restore the church to the state in was in before Tadase had entered. A state of despondency had settled over the crowed as they worked, but they gradually grew cheerful as the wedding recommenced.

Again there was that strange sense of freedom, everything had finally been brought out into the open.

Amu and Ikuto, long since exiting their Charanari from stood on the altar facing each other. Now came the most important part of the ceremony.

"I, Amu Hinamori, take you, Ikuto Tsukiyomi, to be my husband. To have and behold from this day on, for better or for worst, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish; until death do us part." She slid the ring onto his finger; he had insisted that she say her vows first.

He smiled, holding the other ring, "I, Ikuto Tsukiyomi, take you, Amu Hinamori, to be my wife. I commit never to leave your side, to follow you. Wherever you go, I shall go, and where you remain, I shall remain. My life is yours and yours is mine, and where you die, I shall die and be buried beside you. I swear that nothing shall part us." He delicately slid it onto her finger and grasped her hand.

The minister then asked the necessary question, "Ikuto, will you take Amu to be your lawful wife, honor her and love her, and forsaking all others keep only onto her so long as you both shall live?"

"I do."

"Amu, will you take Ikuto to be your lawful husband, honor him and love her, and forsaking all others keep only onto her so long as you both shall live?"

"I do."

The minister beamed at them both, "You two have clear many obstacles in the name of your love. By the power invested in me, I pronounce you man and wife!" He nodded towards Amu, "You may kiss the bride!"

Carefully, Ikuto lifted the veil to reveal Amu's beautiful face. She threw her arms around him and kissed him with all of her might, he responded with just as much enthusiasm. The guests cheered as the separated and ran out of the church, all the while being escorted out by the organ music and the others throwing rice for good luck. Amu turned around and threw her bouquet, which landed in the unexpecting hands of Rima, Nagihiko and she blushed as the newlyweds climbed into the limo and set off to the reception.

xxxxx

The reception was a huge hit, the Amu, Ikuto and their entourage greeted the guest as the entered, and before they knew it, it was time for their first dance as husband and wife. Ikuto has chosen a rather odd song for their first dance, but it had fit their love and their hardships so well, that they just had to use it. The song was called "Pieces" by the band Red.

_"I'm here again,  
A thousand miles away from you,  
A broken mess, just scattered pieces of who I am,  
I tried so hard,  
Thought I could do this on my own,  
I've lost so much along the way."_

The world seemed to fall into perspective as they whirled around the dance floor.

_"Then I'll see your face,  
I know I'm finally yours,  
I find everything I thought I lost before,  
You call my name,  
I come to you in pieces,  
So you can make me whole."_

Tadase was gone, but they were together... The world made sense in a twisted sort of way.

_"I've come undone,  
But you make sense of who I am,  
Like puzzle pieces in your hands."_

But... they had managed to save him from the dark energies that had consumed him, even if it had cost him everything...

He had thanked them, and in that he had given the couple his blessing. He wanted them to be happy.

And that was all that matter, right?

xxxxx

Eventually all the dance and partying, the speeches and the toasts had ended.

"Amu! It's time for you to leave!" Several catcalls went up after the bride, for it was time to leave for the honeymoon.

Goodbyes and best wishes were exchanged amongst all of the guests as she walked around the room. Utau and Kukai promised that they would transport all of the wedding gifts to a safe location until their return. Kairi and Yaya promised that they would keep their house tidy while they were gone. Ami and Midori made Amu promise that she wouldn't get knocked up while they were away, because, "We're too young to be and Aunt/Grandmother!" Rima and Nagihiko simply wished her the best, and told her to come back in one piece.

Everyone insisted that they get their own personal conversation with the bride, offering her bits of advice and caution. Someone inquired about the next wedding, which sparked an intense debate between Utau and Rima, both blondes shooting back and forth about whose would be the most extravagant. Amu's father then decided to intervene by saying "They'll miss their flight at this rate, let the poor girl go!" The group laughed and bade one final farewell. Amu embraced each member of her family and went out front. The limo now had a large sing saying "JUST MARRIED!" And had at least twenty tin cans attached to its bumper. Ikuto was standing beside open door, his smile lighting up her world.

_Then I'll see your face,  
I know I'm finally yours._

She ran into his outstretched arms as the rice began to cascade down upon them once more. Ikuto looked around, everything he though he had lost had come back to him, and he had so much more now.

_I find everything I thought I lost before._

"Amu," He whispered. "It's time to go, are you ready?"

She nodded soundlessly as they climbed into the vehicle.

_You call my name;  
I come to you in pieces._

"I love you," She whispered, kissing his nose, "You complete me."

_So you can make me whole._

"I know," He replied as he kissed her, "You are my entire world." The limo began to drive off, with Ami running a short distance after it and waving. This was the first step of their life as one. They drove off into the sunset, wrapped within each others arms

_So you can make me whole._


End file.
